Library

Web article about solar site assessment.

Report presenting seismic design and construction guidance for one- and two-family houses for homebuilders, knowledgeable homeowners, and other non-engineers.

Article from The Earthbound Report on passive cooling design strategies for homes located in hot climates.

Factsheet describing re-siding retrofits containing exterior insulation and window upgrades aimed at improved energy savings and comfort.

Wildfire guidance for homes located in the wildland urban interface, focused on site design and individual pieces of the home.

Ignition resistant residential construction and landscaping guidelines from FireSafe Montana.

Guide detailing best practices on how to build wall assemblies with absorptive claddings such as brick, stone that drain and dry well.

Report covering reservoir claddings, back ventilation and vapor throttles.

Article from University of Arizona on keeping homes cool during extreme heat, both personal and system changes.

Article providing guidance for installing manufactured stone veneer, including information on rainscreens.

Guide describing landscaping tips for healthy and regionally-based gardens, including maintenance, mulching, water efficiency, and plant resources.

Paper describing vegetation impacts on cooling load for buildings.

Guide for homeowners describing actions they can take to modify their home and the surrounding site to create a survivable space to reduce the amount of damage a home would likely experience during a wildfire.

A webpage outlining CAL FIRE’s recommendations for creating defensible space.

Webpage featuring hundreds of illustrations of masonry construction details for brick, congrete, stone, tile, stucco, etc.

Paper describing energy savings in space cooling from shading condenser units.

Report providing extensive guidance on controlling moisture in building envelopes through proper selection and installation on air, water, thermal, and vapor barriers.

Article describing mulch requirements and benefits.

Article describing mulching with lawn clippings.

Pamphlet describing different types of mulches and their benefits.

Online geospatial map with interactive viewer showing flood risk areas and base flood elevations

Report for local governments, planners, emergency managers, developers, insurers, and property owners describing ways to improve the wildfire resistance of buildings, infrastructure and communities in the wildland urban interface.

An NFPA Standard that identifies a method for determining the minimum water supply necessary for structural fire-fighting purposes in areas where it has been determined that there is no water or inadequate water for fire fighting.

An NFPA standards document that provides minimum requirements for the design, construction, installation, and maintenance of tanks and accessory equipment that supply water for private fire protection.

Paper describing a study on savings in peak power and cooling energy for homes with shade trees.

A study on how fires spread through exterior building envelopes with discussion on how fires propagate in a rain screen cavity.

Brochure describing what permeable pavement is, where to install it, and how to maintain it.

Pamphlet describing proper mulching around trees and problems and benefits associated with mulching.

Report providing wildfire protection guidance for homeowners in California.

An example of a form a building codes department created to ensure builders are fully aware and have taken steps to provide drainage so that water doesn’t accumulate behind siding. This example is from the city of Newberg, Oregon.

Technical report describing the Re-Side Right initiative by the New Jersey Institute of Technology's Building America research team that proposes enhancing home efficiency during the re-siding process by incorporating an insulating layer that acts as both an air barrier and water resistive barrier...

Guidance document describing urban heat islands, what they are, how they form, why we care, and including some strategies to reduce them.

Report providing architects, designers, and homeowners with information to make house plans useful for constructing a more wind resilient structure.

Report describing the testing of various siding materials for their ability to resist bullets from small firearms.

Website tool that can search for trees by name or characteristics and retrieve data describing tree attributes including site preferences and general characteristics and considerations.

Website providing the pros and cons of different siding materials for home building, including wood, vinyl, fiber cement, stucco, brick, metal, and stone.

A research paper exploring the design, installation, repair and maintenance of solar water and pool heating technologies.

Manual describing the installation process for Craneboard insulated vinyl siding; while installation is similar across insulated vinyl siding products, see manufacturers for specific guidance.

Specification describing criteria for manufactured polymeric materials used to provide a rainscreen function, a means for the drainage of liquid moisture and the ventilation of vapor moisture that enters an above-grade exterior wall assembly which was published in the year 2019, and is available for...

Document describing correct construction of swales, designed to trap particulate pollutants (suspended solids and trace metals), promote infiltration, and reduce the flow velocity of storm water runoff.

Paper describing landscaping influences on heat gain through shading, infiltration shielding, and microclimate creation for nearby buildings.

Report covering coating and back venting wood based claddings and trim.

Paper describing case studies on urban vegetation and greenways and their impacts on city climate and building performance.

A story about bees building a hive in the drainage plane behind the brick veneer siding. The bees entered the wall through unprotected drainage holes.

Projectile missile testing of various wall panel configuration to understand how the different wall constructions would perform when struck with wind driven debris from a hurricane.

Document describing the impacts of tree cover on property values.

Paper describing the effects of shade trees and their location on residential summertime electricity usage.

Training course describing how to incorporate trees into an energy-conserving landscape.

Manual describing scientific, technical, and practical information needed to work with communities on urban forestry, including a section on trees and construction.

A presentation about the need for rainscreens including the damage water and moisture ingress into a home’s siding and framing can cause, and ways to design a resilient wall that drains and ventilates well.