Library

Website providing resources for seismic retrofits for builders and homeowners as well as city permit requirements from the City of Portland OR.

Report summarizing the results of laboratory testing of 20 advanced power strip products.

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.

A brochure educating homeowners on how to install self-locking devices on cabinets, drawers and doors, including child-proof latches and drawer locks.

Technical paper covering the retrofit of unreinforced masonry buildings.

Report about a tool developed to enable users to compare a typical 1970s ranch home against an IECC 2009 code-compliant home of the same configuration and against the 70s base case plus retrofits.

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

Brochure for utility customers describing installation of an excess flow valve to automatically shut off natural gas flow into a home in the event of a gas line rupture.

Article describing San Francisco and how impending seismic activity may affect modern skyscrapers.

Research report detailing Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) partnership with Manatee County Habitat for Humanity to design a compact, Zero Energy Ready Home in Florida, tackling challenges like equipment sizing and indoor air quality, offering insights for projects surpassing building code...

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

Fact sheet describing improvements in the earthquake resistance of residential and commercial new construction through the adoption into the International Residential Code of seismic provisions including those developed by the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP).

Website providing links to building codes, seismic codes, code enforcement, safe buildings, and seismic retrofitting.

Document describing precast concrete earthquake design considerations including connections, detailing, and forces, among others.

Website providing an introduction to the concepts and principles of seismic design.

Standard using deficiency-based and systematic procedures that use performance-based principles to evaluate and retrofit existing buildings to withstand the effects of earthquakes.

Standard using deficiency-based and systematic procedures that use performance-based principles to evaluate and retrofit existing buildings to withstand the effects of earthquakes. The current version of this standard was published in the year 2017, and is available in both digital and print...

Fact sheet for natural gas customers describing city’s seismic gas shut-off valve requirements.

Reports describing a mathematical methodology for assessing the seismic performance of buildings.

Report promoting public safety and welfare by reducing the risk of earthquake-induced damage to existing homes.

Report promoting public safety and welfare by reducing the risk of earthquake-induced damage to existing homes.

Report providing retrofit measures intended to significantly reduce damage and increase occupant safety for existing buildings.

Report seeking to teach building contractors and building inspectors the correct methods for doing typical seismic retrofits that have been designed by an engineer or architect or described in a prescriptive standard.

Newsletter containing five articles focused on seismic retrofitting.

Article outlining the key issues related to the protection of the building envelope against seismic forces.

Description of California Senate Bill SB 1898, which requires the sale of new seismic gas shutoff devices sold in California to be certified by the State Architect.

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.

Manual that identifies certain leakage limits for ducts and outlines procedures for testing ducts for conformity with air leakage limits that are set forth in a designer’s project specification.

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.

Standard describing methods for testing the airtightness of buildings and HVAC equipment.

Guide providing guidance on conducting seismic risk assessments for buildings. The link goes to the current version of this standard, which was published in the year 2016 and is available for preview and purchase. Previous editions of this standard were published in the year 2016, 2007, and 1999...

Practice providing a guide or standard to undertake seismic risk assessment of properties. The current version of the standard was published in the year 2016 and is available for preview and purchase at the link. Previous versions of the standard were published in the years 2016 and 2007, and are...

Test method designed to calculate an assigned air permeance of flexible sheet or rigid panel-type materials at a reference air pressure differential of 75 Pa which was published in the year 2021 and is available for preview and purchase at the reference link.

Test method providing a rapid means of determining the steady-state thermal transmission properties of thermal insulations and other materials with a high level of accuracy when the apparatus has been calibrated appropriately. This version of the standard was published in the year 2021 and is...

ASTM standard test method for surface burning response of different building materials which was published in the year 2022 and is available for preview and purchase at the reference link.

ASTM standard test method for testing the surface burning response of different building materials which was published in the year 2023 and is available for preview and purchase at the reference link.

Standard that describes the principles for the design of a hot box apparatus and the minimum requirements for the determination of steady state thermal performance of building assemblies when exposed to controlled laboratory conditions. The current version of the standard was published in 2019, and...

Test method designed to obtain reliable values for the WVTR of plastic film and sheeting which was published in the year 2020 and is available for preview and purchase at the reference link.

Bill requiring the Consumer Product Safety Commission to revise the safety standards for freestanding clothing storage units such as a dressers, bureaus, or chests of drawers to include testing related to tip overs and new warning requirements for all such products entering the U.S. market; passed...

Report recommending strategies and approaches that the Federal government and other stakeholders may take to encourage and aid States and local communities in the adoption of the most current building codes.

Report intending to provide useful information as the DOE/BA develops and implements comprehensive communications and outreach strategies for demonstration homes.

Article describing three ways to strengthen the roof-to-wall connections in an existing home.

Article defining structural design loads and ways to calculate them, including dead loads, live loads, soil lateral loads, wind loads, snow loads, earthquake loads, and other loads.

Report evaluating a test home built in Atlanta, GA in the mixed-humid climate zone. The report outlines the features of the house, discusses the implementation of the energy efficient design, and presents the results of short-term characterization testing.

Document about NREL's repository of residential building characteristics and historical energy use data, used to improve accuracy of residential energy analysis tools.

Report providing a selected compilation of seismic rehabilitation techniques and guidance on which techniques are commonly used to mitigate specific seismic deficiencies in various model building types.

Report using data from various sources to characterize the impact on human health and property damage from indoor environmental quality and other hazards.

FSEC certification and testing page for solar systems.

Fact sheet describing building codes, seismic codes, and code enforcement.