Library
This library contains research reports produced by the Building America program and other building science resources used to support this Solution Center. The materials cover both new construction and existing homes. Use the search box and/or the filters to explore hundreds of residential building resources. Access to some references not produced by Building America may require purchase from the publisher. Documents are listed alphabetically. While we continually update our database, links may have changed since posting. Please contact our webmaster if you find broken links.
Information sheet about proper ventilation and air sealing.
Information sheet about transfer ducts and grilles.
Document about development of recommendations to help residential HVAC designers select optimal supply inlet size and system operating conditions to maintain good thermal comfort in low heating and cooling load homes.
This Strategy Guideline covers the pros and cons of compact air distribution systems and the decision criteria that must be considered early in the whole-house design process.
Report about the impact on the loads when common safety factors are applied to the load calculation process using two houses that meet the 2009 IECC prescriptive path modeled as the accurate baseline.
Information sheet about buried ducts.
Report addressing barriers to information, contractor resources and cost savings associated with steam balancing multifamily buildings.
Document reviewing current and potential ventilation technologies for residential buildings with particular emphasis on North American climates and construction.
Report describing procedures for increasing sensible efficiencies through increased flow rates across the air handling unit and increased indoor coil sizes.
Presentation providing information about correctly installing ductwork in new and existing homes.
Document presenting results from testing HVAC duct system design incorporating a high-side supply register.
Report including an overview of the buried duct research and information the retrofit methodology used to install and test the three existing duct systems, including short- and long-term data collection.
Research study using modeling to determine optimal combination(s) of components/pumps, high efficiency heat sources, plumbing configurations and controls that result in the highest overall efficiency for a hydronic system.
Research study analyzing measured energy savings from a moderate retrofit by comparing post-retrofit performance with measured pre-retrofit monitored data.
Document illustrating guidelines for efficient installation of interior duct systems in new housing.
Report descibing the sealing and insulating of HVAC duct systems in new and existing homes.
Report describing recommendations for optimizing flexible duct, constant-volume HVAC systems using junction boxes.
Document intended for designers and installers of hydronic heating systems interested in maximizing the overall system efficiency of condensing boilers when coupled with baseboard convectors. It is applicable to new and retrofit projects.
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.
Document covering the technical aspects of buried and insulated ducts (BEDs), as well as the advantages, disadvantages, and risks of BEDs compared to alternative strategies.
Report on the long-term performance of mini-split heat pumps.
Report proposing mini-split heat pumps as a new retrofit option to replace resistance heating in the Pacific Northwest.
Report evaluating the relative effectiveness of various control and distribution strategies to improve hydronic space heating performance in existing low-rise multifamily buildings
Expert meeting held to review and discuss results and future plans for research to improve the performance of hydronic heating systems using condensing boilers and baseboard convectors.
Research study describing experiments run in an unoccupied 1600 ft2 house to evaluate the delivered performance as well as the relative performance of a SEER 21 variable capacity heat pump versus a SEER 13 heat pump.
Brochure with information about ducts in conditioned space.
Brochure with details on HVAC duct air sealing.
Report on variable-capacity air conditioning and heat pump units.
Report providing information about energy-efficient heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) equipment options to help homeowners cut their energy use, reduce their carbon footprint, and increase their homes comfort, health, and safety.
Brochure intended to provide readers with a working knowledge of residential heating and cooling duct systems.
In multifamily and attached buildings, traditional duct sealing methods are often impractical or costly and disruptive because of the difficulty in accessing leakage sites. In this project, two retrofit duct sealing techniques - manually-applied sealants and injecting a spray sealant, were implemented in several low-rise multi-unit buildings....
Document providing guideance and considerations for duct design in an energy efficient house.
This report describes an air distribution system composed of a series of uniformly-sized ducts that terminate in rooms throughout the home and return to a central manifold, similar in fashion to a “home-run” cross-linked polyethylene plumbing system. With a well-designed manifold, each duct receives an equal static pressure...
Research study estimating potential energy savings relative to conventional ducted air distribution, and identifying equipment requirements, costs, and barriers.