Library

Report describing the advantages and best practices for installing heat pump water heaters (HPWH), highlighting their improved energy efficiency, reliability, and critical considerations such as condensate management, proper sizing, and optimal installation location to enhance performance and...

The Heat Pump Water Heater Installation Tool helps contractors, installers, and homeowners through the decision-making process for heat pump water heater (HPWH) product selection and installation, with a focus on overcoming installation barriers.

Report describing the significant potential for energy use reductions through heat pump water heaters, which have been a crucial part of Northwest power plans for decades and have recently achieved substantial savings with new integrated models and climate specifications.

Report describing the features, benefits, and best practices for the design and installation of heat pump water heaters in new low-rise multifamily buildings, highlighting their efficiency, reliability, and contribution to decarbonization goals.

Report describing a laboratory assessment that provides insights into space requirements and venting strategies for heat pump water heaters (HPWH) to enhance retrofit installations and provide actionable guidance for manufacturers, designers, engineers, installers, and owners.

Guide providing detailed selection and installation instructions for heat pump water heaters.

Provides consumers with general information on solar water heating systems and how to select a contractor.

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

Webpage describing federal regulation related to excess flow valves on residential natural gas lines.

Best Practices document providing an introduction to current photovoltaic and solar thermal building practices.

Report presenting seismic design and construction guidance for one- and two-family houses for homebuilders, knowledgeable homeowners, and other non-engineers.

Guidebook that provides information on earthquake hazards that can damage homes, the design and retrofit of earthquake resistant housing, and how to find more information on earthquake safety.

Report on a project that enhanced the HWSIM distribution system model to more accurately model pipe heat transfer.

Article describing the factors that can lead to inefficient hot water distribution systems in homes.

Guide describing how to choose energy-efficient water heaters, including heat pump models, with tips on installation, rebates, and incentives for maximizing energy savings.

ENERGY STAR webpage describing how a heat pump water heater works.

Webpage describing how to locate and manually shut off natural gas service at the meter.

Report describing ways to retrofit a home to make it more resistant to earthquakes.

Report describing the identification of barriers and proposed practical solutions for the design, installation, and market adoption of heat pump water heaters in new low-rise multifamily housing, focusing on studio and one-bedroom units.

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

ICC-ES Evaluation Report reviewing proprietary steel shear wall panels developed by Simpson Strong-Tie Company to resist vertical and lateral loads in walls resulting from wind or earthquakes.

Journal article presenting modeling of residential gas water heaters via dynamic simulation models to determine the effect of the pilot light on their annual energy consumption.

Article describing excess flow valves installed on gas lines to shut-off natural gas flow to a home in the event that a gas line is severed due to an earthquake, natural disaster, earthquake, etc.

Webpage detailing how to purchase and install the correct shut-off valve for homes in California, including differences between earthquake and excess flow valves and how to install each.

Report describing the performance, economics, space heating impacts, and user satisfaction of heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) in the upper Midwest, based on a field study and survey of participants in the MECA HPWH incentive program.

Report showing installers how to attach ducts, pipes, and associated equipment to buildings to minimize earthquake damage.

Fact sheet describing principles of insulating steam distribution and condensate return lines as an effective way to prevent energy loss.

Report describing the objective evaluation of space conditioning interactions between heat pump water heaters and home heating systems during winter 2016-2017, revealing a smaller than anticipated impact on space conditioning loads.

This webpage provides an interactive walk-through of the installation of a heat pump water heater in a home in Massachusetts, including how-to videos of the installation, video interviews with the homeowners, installer, and utility program partners, and visual tours of the home before and after...

Website providing a probabilistic map of the expected number of damaging earthquakes around the U.S.

Document from IBHS explaining how to inspect homes for earthquake preparedness and retrofit solutions for homes that have suffered structural damage as a result of earthquakes.

Article describing dozens of ideas on how to retrofit a home so it is more earthquake ready.

Report summarizing results of testing emerging combo water heating technologies under controlled laboratory operations, that differentiate the performance of the various packaged equipment configurations being offered.

Report describing research conducted to support California’s Title 24, Part 6 Building Energy Efficiency Standards by analyzing the impact of installation location and ventilation on heat pump water heater (HPWH) performance, emphasizing the need for proper installation to maximize efficiency...

Report identifying the target market for solar water heaters and potential pathways and cost/performance targets that must be met for these systems to realize large energy savings.

This webpage provides an interactive walk-through of the installation of a heat pump water heater in a home in Maine, including how-to videos of the installation, video interviews with the homeowners, installer, and utility program partners, and visual tours of the home before and after installation...

Guidebook providing useful examples of high performance retrofit techniques for the building enclosure of wood frame residential construction in a cold and somewhat wet climate.

Document pertaining to design and application guidance for combination space and tankless domestic hot water heating systems used in residential buildings, based on field evaluation, testing, and industry meetings.

Report describing the installation and operation of forced-air heating and domestic hot water combi systems in residential homes.

Document developed to help residential builders and retrofitters transition from tank-type water heaters to tankless water heaters.

Web resource that lays out the pre-work considerations, methods and finishes for installing mechanical insulation.

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, wind, and fire loads, and their combinations for general structural design. This version of the standard was published in the year 2016 and is available in both digital...

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, seismic, and wind loads, and their combinations for general structural design. The current version of this standard was published in the year 2022 and is available in both digital...

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, and wind loads, and their combinations for general structural design. This version of the standard was published in the year 2010 and is available in both digital and print...

Report providing a resource that communities can use to identify and evaluate a range of potential mitigation actions for reducing risk to natural hazards and disasters.

This paper discusses model validation using data from three thermosiphon systems.

Study in which a central heat pump water heater system was monitored in detail and used to create a model for assessing similar systems in various climates.

Website providing information on tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms and more.

Report updating and expanding on a 2005 study that found, among other things, that every $1 of natural hazard mitigation funded by FEMA between 1993 and 2003 saved the American people an average of $4 in avoided future losses.

Website containing USGS-related publications related to natural hazards.