Library

Recovery advisory guide providing guidance on existing code requirements as well as recommend best practices for attachment design, installation, and maintenance of rooftop solar panels to increase panel wind resistance in the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricane Maria.

Webpage discussing the characteristics of sunlight and how cool roofs work to reduce solar heat gain.

A fact sheet providing homeowners with guidance on properly securing water heaters to prevent them from tipping in an earthquake.

Report comparing the performance of seven differing types of residential water heating systems in a side-by-side test configuration over a full year period.

Document about testing of seven water heating systems in the Hot Water Systems laboratory in central Florida.

Information sheet describing how to select a properly sized water heater based on household usage patterns, peak demand, and heater type—whether tankless, solar, or storage-based—to ensure efficiency and adequate hot water supply.

A website providing information on how to properly size a water heater based on tank size, volume, peak hour demand and other factors.

Web page describing the basics of how to size and build a battery bank for electricity storage.

Paper describing the development and testing of an affordable net-zero energy house in Lenoir City, Tennessee.

Website providing consumers with resources to find, select and install heat pump water heaters.

Website article describing the way solar panels are coupled to AC and DC battery energy storage systems.

Report providing a synopsis of a project to evaluate the performance of a roof-integrated solar water heating system.

SEIA resources page.

Tool determining the most economical and efficient photovoltaic array location and position.

Guidelines 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.

The Solar Rating & Certification Corporation is the leading solar heating and cooling product certification program in North America, certifying to the requirements of International and Uniform Codes and Standards

Report identifying the important aspects of building design and construction to enable installation of solar photovoltaic and heating systems at some time after the building is constructed.

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

Website describing how solar water heaters -- also called solar domestic hot water systems -- can be a cost-effective way to generate hot water for your home.

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.

Outlines the minimum criteria for a solar water heating system installed by a Solar Water Heating Program trade ally under Energy Trust of Oregon’s Solar Water Heating Program.

Webpage describing the basics of solar plus storage operations on homes.

California Energy Commission report presenting the concept of cool walls and providing guidelines for their building- and climate-appropriate use to conserve energy and reduce emissions.

Handheld solar site analysis tool capturing whole-horizon images for a site and generating shading analysis reports.

Report about proper water heater selection developed to provide step-by-step procedures for evaluating preferred cost-effective options for energy efficient water heater alternatives based on local utility rates, climate, and anticipated loads.

The 2017 publication update to the SEAOC Wind Committee and SEAOC Solar Photovoltaic Systems Sub-Committee's 2012 report.

Information for properly sizing gas lines for use with tankless water heaters and other gas appliances.

FSEC certification and testing page for solar systems.

DOE-sponsored report describing the experimental design and results of testing the energy performance of Hunter Douglas double-cell cellular shades under various control schemes in the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Lab Homes.

Report describing use of the Energy in Modular (EMOD) method to design, produce, and deliver affordable, net-zero energy, low-carbon, and healthier buildings through industrialized (factory) construction of modular buildings; modeling of whole buildings and subassemblies of components, pods, panels...

Conference paper summarizing the relative performance of currently available Heat Pump Water Heaters (HPWH) models, the energy implications of different installation locations (garage, basement, or conditioned space) and ducting configurations (exhaust ducting, full ducting, or no ducting), as well...

Case study of new home construction in the hot-humid climate.

Case study of new home construction in the hot-dry and mixed-dry climate zones.

Report about partnership to build three communities of net zero houses.

Presentation report detailing Heat Pump Water Heater (HPWH) interaction with space conditioning systems in real-life test scenarios that explains some of the problems arising from these interaction and information that can be used to make the system more efficient.

Report on investigating the effectiveness of using solar thermal water heaters to address heat losses from piping while recirculating water in multifamily buildings.

Research study comparing TRNSYS Type 604 pipe model against laboratory pipe heat loss test data and detailed field monitoring data.

Report about a project with successful integration of numerous energy-conservation and renewable-energy features into a beautiful, comfortable, and very energy-efficient off-grid home.

State building energy code for the State of Washington.

A info sheet providing information on ENERGY STAR certified water heaters and the various criteria water heaters must undergo to become ENERGY STAR certified, including metrics on efficiency and performance.

A preparedness guide guiding homeowners on how to secure an indoor home water heater safely to wall studs.

Website containing useful resources regarding central heat pump water heater systems.

Guide designed to help builders better understand and meet the hot water delivery system criteria as specified in EPA's WaterSense New Home Specification.

Report evaluating performance/efficiency of central heat pump water heaters and quality assurance/quality control processes in system startup, operation and efficiency program participation.

Web page explaining what a cool exterior wall is and how they work, as well as benefits to their use and links to research studies.

Web page explaining what a cool roof is and how they work, as well as benefits to their use and links to research studies.

Wepage providing information on ENERGY STAR certified gas tankless water heaters with information on how they cut water heating expenses as well as a product finder tool to find ENERGY STAR certified products.

Report describing work conducted by the Building Science Corporation (BSC) Building America Research Teams Energy Efficient Housing Research Partnerships project.

Article about one way to deal with the cold-water surprise effect of tankless water heaters.

DOE presentation describing a project to study window attachments.