Library

Activity sheets describing questions and preparedness action items for a variety of disasters including floods, fires, earthquakes, and winter weather.

Factsheet describing backflow valve benefits and tips.

Website describing and providing a map showing the tsunami risk index for the United States, which home owners and builders can use to determine the tsunami risk of their location.

FEMA guidance for flood damage in areas prone to flooding.

Report providing guidelines and procedures to determine whether damaged or potentially damaged buildings are safe for use after wind storms or floods, or if entry should be restricted or prohibited.

Journal article reporting on field experience of unvented cathedralized (UC) attics in several environments in the United States.

Report about field testing that characterizes the uniformity of room-to-room ventilation air distribution under various operating conditions by examining multi-zone tracer gas decay curves and calculating local age-of-air.

Technical report on a field validation study that utilizes low-cost indoor air quality sensors to assess a smart ventilation system's effectiveness in maintaining acceptable indoor humidity in low-load homes in humid environments, revealing that while the smart ventilation algorithm demonstrated...

Website containing resources from the nonprofit FLASH, which "is the country’s leading consumer advocate for strengthening homes and safeguarding families from natural and manmade disasters."

Research report assessing the moisture and cooling load impacts of airtightness and mechanical ventilation in homes in hot-humid climates.

Research study outlining savings from reducing air infiltration, with and without the addition of mechanical ventilation, using two identical laboratory homes designed to model existing Florida building stock.

Guide from Building Science Corporation on how to construct a flood and hurricane resistant home.

This document includes tips for safely and effectively cleaning up a home after a flood. It is available in several languages.

Page describing in detail four important actions you should consider to protect your health and indoor air quality (IAQ) when cleaning up after a flood.

This five-page brochure contains basic information on flood cleanup with illustrations and links to more detailed information.

Website providing information to the public about preparing for floods and floods related to fires.

Website providing series of short how-to videos, infographics and more resources on cleaning up a home after a flood.

Report describing dry floodproofing technologies for non-residential buildings, including information about regulatory requirements, design considerations, and descriptions of floodproofing methods and equipment.

Website describing wet floodproofing measures to prevent against structural damage, internal damage and damage to electrical components.

Article describing methods of smoke control in buildings.

Guide describing how and where to install flashings in order to weatherproof a roof.

Article describing issues with attic ventilation fans and why the state of Georgia residential code does not allow plug-in attic ventilation fans.

Document describing living shoreline techniques for shoreline stabilization.

Report about opportunities for ventilation when traditional methods are limited by weather conditions or by contaminants in the outdoor air.

Report explaining the issues and concerns with conventional ventilated crawlspaces and to outline prescriptive measures for improvements that will create healthier and more durable spaces.

Report describing tsunamis and options for vertical evacuation from tsunamis; the guide addresses determination of tsunami and earthquake loads and structural design criteria and concepts, primarily for commercial buildings.

Report describing the use of fresh air ventilation systems to eliminate the formation of icicles and ice dams along the eaves of roofs.

Report about indoor air quality related to indoor mold growth.

Webpage providing maps and information to assess the particular hazards and risks for an area.

Report containing 37 fact sheets that provide technical guidance and recommendations concerning the construction of coastal residential buildings.

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

Website providing certified rating programs to help manufacturers, builders, contractors and homeowners compare performance of ventilation products for air flow, sound, and other performance characteristics.

Report describing for homeowners how to protect their homes from flooding, 3rd Edition.

Brochure describing FEMA documents and foundation tips for floodproofing homes.

Article describing the impact of stack effect on building performance, highlighting how pressure differences caused by temperature and height affect air infiltration and exfiltration, and detailing strategies like compartmentalization and distributed mechanical systems to manage airflow and maintain...

Website with articles on home ventilation and indoor air quality.

Article describing considerations for choosing a room-level air cleaner to improve indoor air quality.

Article from Washington Post on passive cooling measures for homes during extreme heat.

Article describing how omission of two small but critical wall details, a kick-out flashing and a weep screed, lead to extensive water damage to a wall.

Factsheet describing tips for building or renovating with a focus on disaster resistance.

Paper providing a comprehensive overview of HVAC system design considerations and challenges specific to multifamily residential buildings, focusing on optimizing performance and addressing common issues.

Publication specifying HVI’s prescriptive procedures for testing and rating airflow of residential ventilation products in accordance with ANSI consensus standards.

Publication describing the requirements and procedures for the certified performance ratings program for residential ventilation products administered by the Home Ventilating Institute.

Website providing an online directory of more than 3,600 residential ventilation products lisiting flowrates, sones, watts, and other performance metrics; all listed products have been tested by the Home Ventilating Institute.

The study described in this white paper is based on building energy modeling with an important focus on the indoor humidity impacts of ventilation.

Report documenting the results of a NYSERDA-funded research project to demonstrate the costs and benefits of a best practice systems approach to improving exhaust ventilation system performance in five multifamily buildings in New York State.

Study using simulations to understand the impact that shading and natural ventilation would have had on the survivability of non-air-conditioned buildings during the 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest.

Fact sheet providing information on how to identify issues and improve performance in central exhaust systems.

Report detailing natural ventilation and passive airflow systems.

This research study used pollutant measurements, home inspections, diagnostic testing and occupant surveys to assess IAQ in 24 new or deeply retrofitted homes designed to be high performance green buildings in California.