Library

Report covering coating and back venting wood based claddings and trim.

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.

Conference paper describing testing of the performance of fasteners used to attach rigid foam insulation to the exterior of walls.

Information sheet describing correct application of stucco.

Recovery advisory presenting key wind retrofit guidelines for buildings located in hurricane-prone regions. These retrofit guidelines are intended to help building owners and designers prevent or limit wind damage and water infiltration during high-wind events.

Article describing suggested food supplies, sanitation, safety, and cooking for during and after an emergency.

Document describing issues of wind pressure resistance in walls with exterior rigid foam sheathing installed directly over framing members.

Presentation by the Washington University in St. Louis Office of Sustainability on saving energy.

A guide for homeowners on determining the risks from tornadoes and hurricanes and selecting a safe room type and location, as well as providing detailed plans for safe room construction.

Report presenting safe room designs and showing the homeowner and builder/contractor or local design professional how to construct a safe room for a home or small business.

A story about bees building a hive in the drainage plane behind the brick veneer siding. The bees entered the wall through unprotected drainage holes.

Image depicting damage from termites in weatherboard cladding.

Fact sheet providing the wind resistant provisions of the 2015 International Residential Code.

Projectile missile testing of various wall panel configuration to understand how the different wall constructions would perform when struck with wind driven debris from a hurricane.

Report illustrating CAD drawings and modeling of bracing layouts for a gable roof truss.

Report descrbing an early study pointing to the significant improvement, >50%, of a hip roof in reducing peak wind-induced pressures.

Manuals describing design, materials, and installation techniques applicable to almost all types of roof systems; four-volume set includes Metal Panel and SPF Roof Systems, Membrane Roof Systems, Architectural Metal Flashing and Condensation and Air Leakage Control, and Steep-Slope Roof Systems.

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

Article describing the perfect wall and and in what order to control rain, air, vapor, and heat.

A book describing seismic retrofits to help contractors and engineers understand how to properly retrofit a home in a cost-effective manner.

Article describing thermal bridging, construction practices that encourage thermal bridging, and solving thermal bridging through continuous exterior insulation.

Guide describing details that serve as a visual reference for each of the line items in the Thermal Enclosure System Rater Checklist.

Research study investigating the thermal efficiency of fasteners, namely drywall screws and siding nails, in high-performance wood-framed walls.

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

Article describing the evolution of the IRC to permit class 3 vapor retarders (latex paint) in walls coupled with exterior continuous insulation to allow drying and reduce condensation risk.

Research study describing a detailed 3D computational fluid dynamics model that evaluates the thermal performance of uninsulated wall assemblies.

Technical conference paper discussing real world experience with Trombe walls.

Website providing guidance for people to find and use tools, information, and subject matter expertise to build climate resilience.

Information sheet providing definitions, applications, and techniques for applying air barriers.

Technical fact sheet highlighting important building connections and illustrating the proper use of various types of connection hardware; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

Article describing how adhesives can be used to make homes in high-wind locations stronger and how adhesives could be too effective resulting in overloading foundation anchors under earthquake loads.

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.

A review on the knowledge about ventilated wall claddings from field performance and hydrothermal modeling.

Report summarizing NRELs efforts to develop diagnostic test cases to conduct accurate energy simulations when phase change materials (PCMs) are modeled in residential buildings.

Website describing proper methods for installing vinyl siding on homes.

Publication with installation guidance for vinyl siding.

Document describing wall bracing techniques and suggestions for the city of Verona, WI building department.

A guide describing how to do wall bracing calculations and evaluations.

A presentation about the need for rainscreens including the damage water and moisture ingress into a home’s siding and framing can cause, and ways to design a resilient wall that drains and ventilates well.

Web page providing statistics on weather related fatalities and injuries.

An article written by Don Jackson of The Journal of Light Construction on how to detail brick veneer siding wall.

Manual showing how to properly use grass swales to manage excess water runoff.

Report providing design guidance for wood-framed residential construction in high wind areas where design wind velocity requirements do not exceed 140 miles per hour.

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.

An article describing a way to protect drain and ventilation holes in brick veneer siding against pests. Selecting a fine screen mesh opening (1/55-inch or 0.5-mm) is important to guard against small insects such as subterranean termites.

Study showcasing the location of the highest uplift force on the hip, ridge, and perimeter regions of roofs, and thus roofing material needs for the most fasteners and adhesive at these locations.

Study analyzing wind pressures on hip roofs where two hip roofs come together forming an L or T shaped roof or building.

Guide presents mitigation measures in a Mitigation Package which combined set of retrofit measures that must be implemented for a house to provide a defined level of protection; identifies three successive Mitigation Packages: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. Implementing the Mitigation Packages...

Article discussing structural and nonstructural building components and illustrates a variety of wind-induced damages, including wind-driven rain infiltration.

Fact sheet describing impact-resistant window systems with specifics on Florida’s building codes.