Library

Research study comparing various retrofit models in Wisconsin to evaluate performance in terms of savings per home and program cost per home to assess the relative cost effectiveness of each program design.

Two hourly energy simulation software, BEopt and Energy Gauge USA, were compared to ensure accuracy and evaluate agreement on the impact of various energy efficiency improvements.

Website providing building science based guidance and training for residential construction.

Research report anayzing the results of a large retrofit project, turining an old school into near zero energy consumption apartments in Greenfield MA.

Article describing the use of whole-house fans to provide cooling in the region surrounding Sacramento, CA.

Report providing recommendations to builders regarding how to reduce cooling loads, use air-circulation fans, natural ventilation, window and building design for natural ventilation, and whole-house fans.

Short report providing tips on how to reduce heat gain and passively cool a home.

Standard describing prediction, mitigation, and reduction of moisture damage to the building envelope, materials, components, systems, and furnishings, depending on climate, construction type, and HVAC system operation; the webstore allows preview or full purchase.

Guidance document on deep energy retrofits.

Part of a larger LBNL report (Deep Energy Retrofit Guidance for the Building America Solutions Center), the Design and Construction Process chapter provides detailed guidance for each process phase: pre-planning, planning, construction, test-out and post-occupancy.

Part of a larger LBNL report (Deep Energy Retrofit Guidance for the Building America Solutions Center), the Lessons Learned chapter focuses on successful deep energy retrofit projects throughout the U.S.

Report describing the progress toward and issues related to developing a usable, standardized, empirical data-based software accuracy test suite.

Article from Green Building Advisor on strategies to take when building homes to reduce the need for air conditioning, including insulation, windows, site selection, and roofing.

The main principle of smart ventilation used in this study is to shift ventilation from time periods with large indoor-outdoor temperature differences, to periods where these differences are smaller, and their energy impacts are expected to be less.

Research report describing the development of standardized test methods for PM2.5 and CO2 sensors enabling reliable, low-cost indoor air quality monitoring and improvement.

Website for finding policies and incentives by state for renewables and efficiency.

Article describing earthship homes.

Bulletin describing the components of ECM motors and comparing their efficiency with PSC motors.

Report describing an investigation into multiple occupancy-based ventilation control strategies and the associated energy savings.

Journal article presenting a discussion of the state-of-the- art in electricity management in smart homes, the various enabling technologies that will accelerate this concept, and topics around consumer behavior with respect to energy usage.

This study evaluates the energy, humidity and indoor air quality implications of residential ventilation cooling in all US IECC climate zones.

Document providing a resource to help contractors renovate historic houses, while addressing issues such as building durability, indoor air quality, and occupant health, safety, and comfort.

Technical report evaluating the energy savings potential of radiative cooling technologies, particularly photonic 'selective emittance' materials.

Factsheet describing the benefits of purchasing and installing ENERGY STAR rated fans and ventilation products.

ENERGY STAR factsheet describing the HVAC Quality Installation Program

Program criteria for residential exhaust fans used for ventilation.

Section 608 establishes EPA’s National Recycling and Emission Reduction Program designed to reduce emissions related to maintaining, servicing, repairing, and disposing of air conditioning or refrigeration equipment.

This report evaluates the performance of variable-capacity comfort systems, with a focus on inverter-driven, variable-capacity systems, as well as proposed system enhancements.

Report describing the evaluation and selection of ventilation systems for homes retrofitted for energy aesthetic and health/safety improvements in Las Vegas.

Document reviewing four cold-climate northern Illinois energy efficiency retrofit programs to identify practices, tools, and approaches to streamline and reduce costs of comprehensive retrofits, and to improve the consistency of audit and retrofit delivery practices across different programs.

Case study on exhaust ventilation and corresponding outdoor air intake strategies implemented in high-performance new-construction multifamily buildings.

Report detailing the effects of replacing PSC motors with more efficient, variable-speed motors.

Research study documenting market-ready energy solutions to improve the efficiency of new affordable housing in the marine climate of Washington State.

Technical report describing the evaluation of four different ventilation strategies for providing make-up air in high-performance, new construction multifamily buildings in the Northeast, emphasizing the challenges posed by increasing airtightness standards and the variability of system performance...

Report describing research that helps inform best practices for air-sealing multifamily buildings in the Northeast.

Expert meeting describing meeting details for key innovations for adding energy efficiency upgrades to maintenance projects.

Report presenting the process of a residential retrofit project for houses in the states of Florida and Alabama, including findings at the time of reporting and highlights of the first home to meet the target HERS Index of 70.

Report describing a project focused on the use of home energy ratings as a tool to promote energy retrofits in existing homes.

Journal article reporting on field experience of unvented cathedralized (UC) attics in several environments in the United States.

Report about field testing that characterizes the uniformity of room-to-room ventilation air distribution under various operating conditions by examining multi-zone tracer gas decay curves and calculating local age-of-air.

Technical report on a field validation study that utilizes low-cost indoor air quality sensors to assess a smart ventilation system's effectiveness in maintaining acceptable indoor humidity in low-load homes in humid environments, revealing that while the smart ventilation algorithm demonstrated...

Research report assessing the moisture and cooling load impacts of airtightness and mechanical ventilation in homes in hot-humid climates.

Research study outlining savings from reducing air infiltration, with and without the addition of mechanical ventilation, using two identical laboratory homes designed to model existing Florida building stock.

Report outlining the energy upgrade package implemented in Ft. Benning, GA, Indianhead Townhomes project and the findings of the Southface Energy Institute's post-renovation analysis.

Article describing methods of smoke control in buildings.

Article describing issues with attic ventilation fans and why the state of Georgia residential code does not allow plug-in attic ventilation fans.

Report detailing field walk-through evaluations, energy simulations for projected savings with exterior insulation upgrades, building envelope energy improvement cost estimates, and installation and maintenance of monitoring equipment and data.

Report about opportunities for ventilation when traditional methods are limited by weather conditions or by contaminants in the outdoor air.

Report explaining the issues and concerns with conventional ventilated crawlspaces and to outline prescriptive measures for improvements that will create healthier and more durable spaces.