Library

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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 proposing a procedure for estimating the whole opaque wall R-value (whole-wall R-value), independent of system type and construction materials.

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 addressing the ever increasing percentage of whole house energy use that is attributable to miscellaneous electricity loads (MELs) and major appliances.

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.

Document describing the measured annual performance data from 12 recent-vintage very low energy homes in the US.

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.

Report assessing the performance and cost-effectiveness of a zero net energy community project in Davis, CA.

Factsheet describing the importance of system charging, superheat and subcooling.

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.

Research study describing an evaluation of selected windows undertaken by IRC researchers at Ottawa’s Laurier House (now being used as a museum) to determine their effectiveness in controlling condensation.

Report describing the design and construction of a highly energy efficient community of ten duplexes in Greenfield, Massachusetts.