Library

Article describing benefits of ECM motors and how they can be installed as retrofit motors in HVAC equipment.

Website providing links to scalable guidance and tools about the importance of earthquake mitiation to the private sector, its owners, managers, and employees.

Report on the field evaluation of whole-building approaches and estimation of the relative contributions of select technologies toward reducing energy use related to space conditioning in new manufactured homes.

Report providing guidelines and procedures to determine whether damaged or potentially damaged buildings are safe for use after wind storms or floods, or if entry should be restricted or prohibited.

Report describing the in situ performance evaluation of newly released heat pump water heaters (HPWHs), highlighting their energy and cost savings potential compared to conventional electric resistance water heaters and other alternatives, based on data collected from installations in Massachusetts...

Report describing research about a test implementation of an unvented tile roof assembly in a hot-humid climate.

Factsheet describing fire related terms such as noncombustible, fire resistant, fire retardant, flame spread, how they are applied, and related testing standards.

Article discussing flow-through assemblies of walls.

Article describing the effective R-values of various subslab insulation products, including foil bubble pack.

Checklist providing specific information about the type of residential building eligible for designation consideration in the FORTIFIED Home program.

Checklist providing additional guidance and options for asphalt shingle installations at roof edges, intersections and valleys.

Conference paper describing how retrofits were used in a Florida home to change it from a high energy user to a near zero-energy home.

Results from a research program testing airtightness, implications of air leakage and contaminant reduction over the garage-to-house interface.

Article describing the fundamentals and basics of glazing hazard mitigation practices for both new and existing buildings.

Article describing techniques to air-seal townhouses and row houses.

Installation tips and product suggestions for mounting hardware.

A report describing the development of a methodology to properly size heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment for concrete homes in the US and Canada.

Report presenting system design packages for cold and mixed-humid climates.

Article describing the effect metal roofs have on thermal performance in hot-humid climates.

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.

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

Website providing builders with information about meeting RESNET Grade 1 criteria when installing insulation.

Report that describes BSC's Houses That Work II (HTWII) climate-specific technical resource, beginning with an overall HTWII introduction and four sections explaining the four most important hygro-thermal climate regions: Hot-Humid, Mixed-Humid, Cold, and Hot-Dry/Mixed-Dry.

Information sheet providing links and resources for insulating basements in cold climates.

Report targeting the growing number of homes utilizing deep retrofit measures and new construction practices to realize sufficiently lower infiltration levels that require mechanical ventilation as prescribed by ASHRAE Standard 62.2.

Report describing the use of passive vents as a source of outdoor air in multifamily buildings.

Repor ourlining testing results from a 53 home monitored sample, long-term energy use of electric resistance clothes dryers.

Article describing a steel connector product for jack rafter connections.

Newsletter providing news and information to members of the New Jersey National Guard.

Guide providing information on controlling attic ductwork sweating.

A study on how fires spread through exterior building envelopes with discussion on how fires propagate in a rain screen cavity.

Standards for requirements, performance, construction, workmanship and others for structural-use panels.

Report describing research on how to reduce energy used by residential homes by applying shallow and deep retrofits to an existing home.

Report describing single retrofit measures applied to shallow retrofitted homes that could be used to refine the deep retrofit package.

Article outlining moisture accumulation in open cell spray polyurethane foam.

Webpage for home owners describing ways to prepare indoor and outdoor fuel tanks to avoid displacement during floods.

Fact sheet describing how to prepare for a natural disaster and assemble a disaster supply kit.

Report presenting ways public housing authorities (PHAs) can develop packages of energy efficiency retrofit measures the PHAs can cost-effectively implement with their own staff in the normal course of housing operations at the time when units are refurbished between occupancies.

Table calculating friction losses of PVC pipe fittings.

Table calculating friction losses for PVC pipe by length.

Article describing key takeaways from two symposia held during Building Innovation 2016: The National Institute of Building Sciences Fourth Annual Conference and Expo, including that resilience can be affordable and cost-effective.

Fact sheet describing conditions for wildfire, how a home catches fire, how to create a survivable space, the ideal fire resistant home.

Standard covering provisions for electrically operated single- and multiple-station carbon monoxide (CO) alarming devices used in various types of residential occupancies to protect against acute effects of exposure to CO. This version of the standard, originally published in 2001 and revised in...

Report describing information from DOE about rules and standards for residential air conditioners and heat pumps.

This report discusses proposed updates to the pool pumps and motors, and portable electric spas standards in the Appliance Efficiency Regulations (California Code of Regulations, Title 20, Sections 1601 to 1609). These proposed updates are part of the 2012 Appliance Efficiency Rulemaking, Phase I...

Report describing how to construct a frost protected shallow foundation (FPSF) as a practical alternative to a deeper, more-costly foundation in cold regions with seasonal ground freezing and the potential for frost heave.

Website providing an introduction to the concepts and principles of seismic design.

Article outlining the key issues related to the protection of the building envelope against seismic forces.

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 building envelope performance measures applicable to residential and small commercial construction.