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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.

Showing results 1 - 35 of 35

Author(s)
Beach Robert,
Grisolia Anthony,
Dickson Bruce,
Poerschke Andrew,
Rapport Ari
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS
Publication Date
Description
Report describing 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.
Author(s)
Herk Anastasia,
Beggs Timothy
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
Description
Report outlining the steps developers can take to create high-performance standards on a community-wide scale.
Author(s)
Herk Anastasia,
Poerschke Andrew
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS
Publication Date
Description
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is interested in finding cost-effective solutions for deep energy retrofits (DERs) related to exterior wall insulation in a cold climate, with targets of 50% peak load reduction and 50% space conditioning energy savings.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS
Publication Date
Description
Report outlining the issues with using existing ducts with a new low-load HVAC system, which reduces throw at supply registers causing decreased mixing of supply and room air, leading to potential thermal comfort complaints.
Author(s)
Prahl Duncan,
Rudd Armin
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report identifying two barriers that limit the ability of builders to explore opportunities for higher levels of energy efficiency in housing: the use of duct system materials that inherently achieve airtightness and are right-sized for low-load houses, and, the ability to air seal fire separation...
Author(s)
Prahl Duncan,
Beach Robert
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS
Publication Date
Description
Report outlining workflow and results of regression models on monthly and daily utility data (meter readings of electricity consumption), outlining a process for screening and gathering useful results from inverse models.
Author(s)
Martin Eric
Organization(s)
Building Science Corporation,
BSC,
Florida Solar Energy Center,
FSEC,
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS
Publication Date
Description
The study described in this white paper is based on building energy modeling with an important focus on the indoor humidity impacts of ventilation.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report summarizing one year of monitoring and analysis of the effectiveness of a space conditioning system at maintaining temperature and relative humidity levels in a test home, as well as room-to-room differences and the actual measured energy consumption by the space conditioning system.
Author(s)
Stecher Dave,
Imm C
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report about instrumentation and limited short-term testing completed on a retrofit unoccupied test house in Fresno, California.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Document covering the pros and cons of compact air distribution systems and the decision criteria that must be considered early in the whole-house design process.
Author(s)
Brozyna Kevin,
Badger Leslie
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
Vermont Energy Investment Corporation,
VEIC,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Document explaining the benefits of evaluating and identifying energy efficiency retrofit measures that could be made during renovation and maintenance of multifamily buildings.
Author(s)
Dickson Bruce
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
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.
Author(s)
Prahl Duncan
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Document serving as a starting point that features initial tools and resources for teams to start collaborating to continually improve the energy efficiency and durability of new houses.
Author(s)
Stecher Dave,
Allison Katherine
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
Report about a two-year study intended to document the energy performance of a house in each sub-metered area and compare the performance to modeled predictions and to assess the thermal comfort performance of the single point mini-split heat pump.
Author(s)
Stecher Dave,
Allison Katherine,
Prahl Duncan
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report presenting a cold climate project that examines the relationships among energy efficient single-family residential thermal enclosures, room-to-room temperature variations, and simplified space conditioning systems.
Author(s)
Brozyna Kevin,
Rapport Ari
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Document developed to help residential builders and retrofitters transition from tank-type water heaters to tankless water heaters.
Author(s)
Brozyna Kevin
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
Report describing how modification of model specifications to include guidance on energy efficiency measures can create a greater level of consistency in executing energy efficiency retrofit measures across the multiple regions where a developer may work.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report describing findings from research related to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) companies that have made the decision to transition to whole house performance contracting (WHPC).
Author(s)
Brozyna Kevin,
Rapport Ari,
Davis Graham
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Document developed to help residential new construction builders transition from using a three-coat stucco system to a one-coat stucco system installed over 1 in. of expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation.
Author(s)
Dickson Bruce
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
Document covering two fundamental retrofit strategies for air sealing around air handling systems that are located within the living space in an enclosed closet.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report describing the equipment selection of a split system air conditioner and furnace for an example house in Chicago, Illinois, as well as a heat pump system for an example house in Orlando, Florida.
Author(s)
Holton James
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Document offering methods to greatly reduce lighting energy use through the application of high quality fluorescent and light emitting diode (LED) technologies.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan,
Rapport Ari,
Poerschke Andrew
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
Wathen Castanos Hybrid Homes,
WCHH,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report using a field test plan to evaluate the success of implementing energy efficiency upgrades at the community scale incorporating whole-house systems integrated measures package (SIMP).
Author(s)
Stecher Dave,
Allison Katherine
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers,
ASHRAE
Publication Date
Description
Report discussing instrumentation methods and field operation characteristics of two GSHPs in test houses, including a comparison between the manufacturers listed COP values and the COPs calculated from field data.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL
Publication Date
Description
Document providing guideance and considerations for duct design in an energy efficient house.
Author(s)
Dickson Bruce
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report covering the fundamental waterproofing strategies for tub and shower assemblies.
Author(s)
Stecher Dave
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Expert meeting held to discuss simplified space conditioning systems in low load homes, including the relationship between advanced thermal enclosures, space conditioning systems and comfort.
Author(s)
Dickson Bruce
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
Report providing information about improving the energy efficiency and long-term durability of the buildings that are being reconstructed post Katrina in New Orleans.
Author(s)
Burdick Arlan
Organization(s)
Integrated Building and Construction Solutions,
IBACOS,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
NREL,
U.S. Department of Energy,
DOE
Publication Date
Description
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.