Library

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 comparing the performance of seven differing types of residential water heating systems in a side-by-side test configuration over a full year period.

Document about testing of seven water heating systems in the Hot Water Systems laboratory in central Florida.

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.

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.

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...

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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...

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

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 describing seismic retrofit of historical buildings.

Report about partnership to build three communities of net zero houses.

Webpage for the United States Geological Survey for the Department of the Interior.

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.

Webpage from Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) on identifying key problem spots on unreinforced masonry chimneys and how to retrofit them to withstand seismic forces.

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 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.

Products and specification for a State of California-compliant earthquake-actuated automatic gas shutoff valve.

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.

Webpage from NW Natural on how to prepare homes with natural gas service for earthquakes and floods, what to do during an emergency, and how to respond after the emergency has passed.

Report evaluating performance/efficiency of central heat pump water heaters and quality assurance/quality control processes in system startup, operation and efficiency program participation.

An informational guide established to educate the public on seismic shut-off valves and how to avoid fires following an earthquake.

Infographic explaining what a seismic shut-off valve is and providing frequently asked questions.

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.

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

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