Library

Factsheet describing the uses and benefits of ground-source heat pumps for affordable housing, assisted living, dorms and hotels.

Presentation about proper installation of flexible ducts.

Document providing supplemental information for code enforcement professionals about header hangers in bearing walls.

Article discussing the advantages of using heat pumps and/or hydronic forced air heat instead of furnaces in high-performance homes.

Information sheet presenting the correct methods for building an insulated cathedral ceiling.

Information sheet presenting techniques for installing cellulose insulation.

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.

Report documenting the results of a NYSERDA-funded research project to demonstrate the costs and benefits of a best practice systems approach to improving exhaust ventilation system performance in five multifamily buildings in New York State.

Central return designs require an open pathway between the room and the heart of the house where the return grill is located.

Article describing how insulated siding can save homeowners energy by providing continuous exterior insulation.

Article describing air leakage in buildings.

Article discussing the downside to recessed can lights.

Report presenting lab evaluation of five heat pump water heaters available in the US market today.

Report proposing mini-split heat pumps as a new retrofit option to replace resistance heating in the Pacific Northwest.

Report documenting the measured performance of six residential ENERGY STAR vapor compression dehumidifiers.

Paper describing vegetation impacts on cooling load for buildings.

Report on whole-house and spot ventilation strategies for improved indoor air quality.

Report describing the sealing and insulating of HVAC duct systems in existing homes.

Document illustrating guidelines for efficient installation of interior duct systems in new housing.

Report covering the fundamental waterproofing strategies for tub and shower assemblies.

Report describing an analysis method for determining optimal residential energy efficiency retrofit packages and applies the analysis method to a 1960s-era home in eight U.S. cities.

Glossary of terms used by the National Flood Insurance Program

Document describing recommended modeling rules, potential compliance credits, and eligibility criteria for residential night ventilation cooling systems for California’s Title 24 energy efficiency standards.

Document providing supplemental information for code enforcement professionals about headers in nonbearing walls.

Report providing information about improving the energy efficiency and long-term durability of the buildings that are being reconstructed post Katrina in New Orleans.

Article investigating how a linear input/output relationship can be used as a simple model of the performance of a combination hydronic heating system over heating only, DHW only, and combined loads.

Article describing how ice dams form on residential roofs, how they damage homes, and solutions to prevent future dams.

Website providing an online calculator for determining energy and cost savings from installing radiant barriers in attics.

Information sheet with the definition and uses for a raised truss.

Illustrations of range tip-over outcomes with and without door locking mechanism.

Research study about two test homes that are examined with the goal of providing case studies that could be applied to other similar New England homes.

The RERH specifications and checklists take a builder and a project design team through the steps of assessing a home’s solar resource potential and defining the minimum structural and system components needed to support a solar energy system.

Webpage containing downloadable fact sheets covering carpet-related topics including Indoor Air Quality, Asthma and Allergy, Cleaning Products, and Environmental Sustainability.

Q&A article discussing how to address moisture issues in an attic in a wet and humid coastal climate.

Initiatives of smoke-free housing policies in New York State.

Guidelines to assist builders in designing and constructing homes equipped with a set of features that make the installation of solar energy systems after the completion of the home’s construction easier and less expensive.

The RERH specifications and checklists take a builder and a project design team through the steps of assessing a home’s solar resource potential and defining the minimum structural and system components needed to support a solar energy system.

Specifications to assist builders in designing and constructing homes equipped with a set of features that make the installation of solar energy systems after the completion of the home’s construction easier and less expensive.

Literature review from NFPA on the use of insulation to protect the piping in home fire sprinkler systems from freezing conditions.

Standard that covers the minimum performance and acceptance criteria for an air barrier (AB) material or system for framed walls of low-rise buildings with the service life of the building wall in mind. This link directs to a preview of the version of the standard that was published in the year 2011...

Article describing ways to protect roofs from water infiltration by using self-adhering underlayment in vulnerable locations such as roof valleys, eave edges (to help deal with ice dams), rake edges, roofs to vertical walls (such as dormers), sidewall protection, the bottom of dormer valleys, and...

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.

Document identifying differences between the requirements for construction documents for high performance housing and the documents that are typically produced for conventional housing.

Research study providing a comparison of selected retrofit activity typically done, versus that same retrofit activity approached from an integrated high performance remodeling and quality management perspective.

Question and Answer article in Energy Design Update describing the cost and savings benefits of electronically commutated motors (ECMs) for HVAC equipment.

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

Article describing the risks associated with vented and unvented crawlspaces in different climate zones.

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.