Library

A guidebook helping builders in hot-humid climates design and construct homes for energy efficiency, durability, health, safety, and comfort.

Report providing builders in marine climates with guidance for building homes that have whole-house energy savings of 40% over the Building America benchmark with no added overall costs for consumers.

Report describing measures that builders in mixed-humid climates can use to build homes that have whole-house energy savings of 40% over the Building America benchmark with no added overall costs for consumers.

Report describing an air distribution system composed of a series of uniformly-sized ducts that terminate in rooms throughout the home and return to a central manifold, similar in fashion to a “home-run” cross-linked polyethylene plumbing system.

Report describing two retrofit duct sealing techniques - manually-applied sealants and injecting a spray sealant, that were implemented in several low-rise multi-unit buildings in North Carolina.

Report covering moisture and leakage issues associated with spray foam insulation application to the underside of roof sheathing.

Report about a project that examines implementation of advanced retrofit measures in the context of a large-scale weatherization program and the archetypal Chicago, Illinois, brick bungalow.

Research study discussing how housewraps restrict or permit the passage of water molecules based on size, but cannot control the direction in which the water vapor molecules move.

Brochure providing information about flashing in all cimates.

Document providing guidance to U.S. home builders who want to accept the challenge.

Guide describing measures that builders in the cold and very cold climates can take to build homes that have whole-house energy savings of 40% over the Building America benchmark with no added overall costs for consumers.

Document about testing software predictions of retrofit energy savings in existing homes.

Document providing an example procedure for establishing acceptance-range criteria to assess results from software undergoing BESTEST-EX.

Report summarizing the key opportunities, gaps, and barriers identified by the national laboratory white papers discussing long-term 50% energy reduction goals.

Report about instrumentation and limited short-term testing completed on a retrofit unoccupied test house in Fresno, California.

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.

Study describing efforts and outcomes in developing color-pigmented roofing products with coatings to increase solar reflectance.

Report exploring alternative methods to find long-term solutions to energy loss in 1 ½-story homes to save energy, improve comfort, prevent frost buildup on the underside of the roof deck, and reduce the risk of ice dam formation/reformation.

Report describing the analytical study of renewable energy retrofits to homes built before 1980 and whether it is cost efficient or not.

Research study evaluating energy savings and cost effectiveness of installing low-emissivity (low-e) storm windows over existing windows in residential homes in all climate zones.

Part of a larger LBNL report (Deep Energy Retrofit Guidance for the Building America Solutions Center), the Occupant Behavior chapter discusses how to assess homeowner behavior patterns and use these patterns to enhance overall energy savings.

Part of a larger LBNL report (Deep Energy Retrofit Guidance for the Building America Solutions Center), the Over Time, Phased Guidance chapter presents a phased approach to deep energy retrofits.

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

Report identifying business models for the remodeling industry that foster remodelers adoption of energy efficiency services.

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.

Research study examining efficiency retrofit opportunities, typical renovation practices, and pathways for achieving U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) goals for existing homes in Florida.

Study investigating homeowner measure package choices in the Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program compared to cost-optimal choices determined through Building Energy Optimization (BEopt) modeling software.

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

Report describing a simple and general way to generate House Simulation Protocol (HSP)-consistent internal sensible and latent loads in unoccupied homes.

Brochure on specifications for PV systems.

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.

Research report presenting results of short term tests on measures used in an energy efficiency retrofit project in California.

Information sheet about groundwater control.

Guide providing information on using exterior foam insulating sheathing in building wall assemblies to enhance thermal performance.

Article from NREL on wall construction guidelines for homes in hot climate zones.

Factsheet profiling a simple modification that can be made to window air-conditioners to improve their energy efficiency.

Website providing information on low-energy and standard cooling systems, with a focus on saving energy.

Report with guidance for installing windows with foam sheathing on wood-frame walls.

Guide describing sound mitigation measures to lower building natural disaster vulnerability to assist local officials and community decision makers in coastal areas.

Report using a field test plan to evaluate the success of implementing energy efficiency upgrades at the community scale incorporating whole-house systems integrated measures package (SIMP).

Measure Guideline describing how to assess and carry out the isolation of natural draft combustion appliances from the conditioned spaces of low-rise residential buildings.

This measure guideline provides guidance on combustion safety inspection procedures for appliances and heating equipment that use indoor air for combustion and dilution of flue gases in low-rise residential buildings.

This Measure Guideline provides design and construction information for a deep energy enclosure retrofit solution of a flat roof assembly.

Measure Guideline research report providing simple, long term, and durable solutions when using tapes and flashing membranes in conjunction with the exterior face of rigid polymeric foam sheathing to create the drainage plane of a wall system.

Guideline describing information and specifications relevant to air-seal existing attics.

Report describing an analysis method for determining optimal residential energy efficiency retrofit packages and applies the analysis method to a 1960s-era home in eight U.S. cities.

Document about development of a new test procedure to increase the quality and accuracy of energy analysis tools for the building retrofit market.

Report presenting performance results from tests conducted on an energy efficiency retrofit project in Stockton, California.

Report briefly reviewing past research on the effects of occupant behavior on residential energy use and then covering a two year pilot evaluation of a low cost residential energy feedback system installed in twenty case study homes in Florida.