Library

Guide describing flood protection measures for utility systems, including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fuel.

Webpage describing how to elevate major appliances in case of a flood.

Report designed to help a builder understand quality management and its role in transitioning from conventional to HPH building and remodeling.

Flyer describing reasons and best practices for raising electrical systems above flood-levels.

Report showing how to identify, inventory, and screen buildings that are potentially hazardous because of seismic hazards.

Report providing strategies to support occupant behavior changes for enhancing resilience, and to reduce a building's vulnerability to extreme weather, climate change, and loss of power.

Report covering the reconstruction of flood damaged homes.

Report providing recommended designs and guidance for rebuilding homes destroyed by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast.

Guide providing information for professional builders and contractors rehabbing flooded single-family houses with emphasis on safe practices and the most important activities in the rehab process.

Data tables on U.S. renewable energy consumption and general trends in the market for renewable energy.

The RERH specifications and checklists take a builder and a project design team through the steps of assessing a home’s solar resource potential and defining the minimum structural and system components needed to support a solar energy system.

Website tool intended to guide home builders in assessing whether a new home has the proper physical orientation to support a future installation of a solar energy system.

Fact sheet describing NFIP requirements for repairs, remodeling, and additions, and discussing opportunities for retrofitting in coastal flood hazard areas with recommendations for exceeding the minimum NFIP requirements; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction...

Fact sheet describing requirements and opportunities for retrofitting, and making “best practice” recommendations for repairs, remodeling, and additions in coastal high wind areas; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

Technical bulletin describing National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requirements for flood openings in foundation walls and walls of enclosures below elevated buildings.

Website providing data on household energy usage collected from the Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), a nationally representative sample of more than 18,000 housing units, representing the 123.5 million housing units occupied as primary residences in the U.S.

A fact sheet educating homeowners on the importance of residential safe rooms, including their cost and how to register a safe room with local officials.

Homepage for ENERGY STAR’s windows, skylights, and doors program providing information for consumers and links to product directories.

Website describing the USRC, which "brings an unparalleled level of capability to the mission of improving community resilience in the built environment."

Resource to help builders better understand the WaterSense requirements for labeled homes and assist them in meeting the criteria so they can receive the label for their new construction.

A guide on how to anchor fuel tanks to avoid damage from flooding and seismic events to the home by using straps and solid concrete slabs.

Report about a deep energy retrofit Cool Energy House.

Information sheet describing solar PV upgrade for an existing homes.

Factsheet from HUD describing how to properly rebuild following natural disasters in Puerto Rico.

Report covering the planning, design, construction, and operation of residential and community safe rooms. Written for architects, engineers, building officials, local officials and emergency managers, and prospective safe room owners and operators.

Fact sheet describing guidance concerning lot selection and building siting considerations for coastal residential buildings, including factors that constrain siting decisions, coastal setback lines, common siting problems, and suggestions for builders, designers, and owners; also published in FEMA...

Report summarizing commissioning, short-term testing, and analysis that occurred before, during, and just after the actual retrofit of the Bay Ridge project.

Fact sheet describing basic design and installation tips for various types of siding for high-wind regions, including vinyl, wood, and fiber cement and discusses sustainable design issues; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

The RERH specifications and checklists take a builder and a project design team through the steps of assessing a home’s solar resource potential and defining the minimum structural and system components needed to support a solar energy system.

Specifications to assist builders in designing and constructing homes equipped with a set of features that make the installation of solar energy systems after the completion of the home’s construction easier and less expensive.

Research study presenting a unique opportunity to both identify and evaluate deep retrofit measures that are practical and potentially cost effective for the retrofit market, as well as review the cost effectiveness of the Passive House design approach for achieving energy savings in deep retrofits.

ENERGY STAR webpage describing the benefits of storm windows and a link to a product list.

Webpage providing an ENERGY STAR climate zone map and criteria for ENERGY STAR storm windows per climate zone.

Document serving as a starting point that features initial tools and resources for teams to start collaborating to continually improve the energy efficiency and durability of new houses.

Article describing suggested food supplies, sanitation, safety, and cooking for during and after an emergency.

Fact sheet describing recommendations for exceeding NFIP regulatory requirements for new construction and for repairs, remodeling, and additions, including building foundations, enclosures below the Base Flood Elevation (BFE), use of nonstructural fill, use of space below the BFE, utilities...

Research study determining how well high performance envelope and innovative cooling system interact to cost effectively reduce cooling energy use in this hot-dry climate.

Research study making several recommendations to whole-home program designers and implementers for improving the cost effectiveness and reach of whole-home programs.

Resource manual for builders, designers, architects, plumbers, and others interested in the WaterSense Labeled Homes Program providing an overview of the program, explains how to meet the program requirements, gives descriptions of water-saving technologies, and provides links to further resources.

Article from Texas A&M University and the University of Maryland analyzing why and how urban flooding happens and what can be done to mitigate damage.

Report developed for Habitat for Humanity about lessons learned from demonstration retrofit projects undertaken by Habitat for Humanity affiliates in New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania; with building systems consulting and technical assistance provided by Steven Winter Associates.

Even as the worst housing market correction in more than 60 years appeared to turn a corner in 2009, the fallout from sharply lower home prices and high unemployment continued.

Report presenting results from whole-house monitoring efforts in hope that they may be useful for others moving towards zero energy homes.

Document providing an overview of the Thermal Bypass Checklist for the ENERGY STAR Qualified Homes program.

Guide describing details that serve as a visual reference for each of the line items in the Thermal Enclosure System Rater Checklist.

Report discussing Building America whole house systems research within the broad effort to reduce or eliminate the environmental impact of building and provides specific recommendations for future Building America research based on Building Science Corporations experience with several recent...

Website providing guidance for people to find and use tools, information, and subject matter expertise to build climate resilience.

Report documenting the process and outcomes involved in achieving the U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program certification standards while helping homebuilders in Climate Zones 5 and 6 in the Upper Midwest achieve ZERH certification.

Report describing actions home and business owners can take to deal with underground storage tanks that are displaced by flood waters and preventative steps they can take to reduce the likelihood of tank displacement in the future.

Documents describing Flood Resistant Provisions of codes published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officers (IAPMO): the Uniform Mechanical Code; Uniform Plumbing Code; Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code; and Uniform Solar, Hydronics and Geothermal Code (Uniform...