Library

Document with important building science considerations, designed for members of the residential construction and remodeling industries, as well as owners and managers who work in affordable housing.

Report describing the REDi™ Rating System, which is a framework for implementing “resilience-based earthquake design,” a holistic “beyond-code” design, planning and assessment approach for achieving earthquake resilience.

Webpage explaining how to mitigate heat loss through roofs for ice dam prevention.

Report from FEMA on how to reduce damage from localized flooding including planning, drainage, building codes and retrofits, and regulations.

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.

Report researching cost- effective solution packages for significant energy efficiency and indoor air quality improvements masonry multifamily urban buildings.

Document containing some of the basic characteristics for energy performance, durability, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality that should be met in all high performance homes.

Research study identifying the best performing, most energy-efficient and cost- effective techniques to provide controlled mechanical ventilation and humidity control in hot- humid climates with thermally efficient building envelopes.

DOE report characterizing the installed base of windows and window coverings, and how users operate window coverings in order to enable precise quantification of energy savings.

Research study about a high performance retrofit of an existing brick building (a former convent) into condominiums, all affordable housing.

Report about cost effective energy-efficient upgrades that can be implemented in the hot, dry Southwest climate.

Report about a deep energy retrofit Cool Energy House.

Document reviewing current and potential ventilation technologies for residential buildings with particular emphasis on North American climates and construction.

Report covering non-combustible continuous exterior insulation and non-combustible roof venting.

Website providing information about how to prevent rodent entry in homes.

Infographic providing details on choosing the right advanced power strip based on your habits to reduce the electricity wasted when your electronic devices are idle.

Report describing development of a package of energy efficiency measures to achieve 60% energy savings in a test house.

Report summarizing commissioning, short-term testing, and analysis that occurred before, during, and just after the actual retrofit of the Bay Ridge project.

Report evaluating the renovation of a 5,800-ft2, multiuse facility located in St. Petersburg, on the west coast of central Florida, in the hot-humid climate.

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

Report informing building stakeholders about the risks a snow event poses to their buildings, preventative measures to take before the snow season, and actions that should be taken before, during, and after a snow event.

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.

Report about results of 10 test buildings in Chicago, studied to identify best practices for methodology, typical costs, and energy savings associated with steam system balancing.

Report following the evolution of the construction quality process from its development for new homes to its application construction of a HPH with enhanced specifications, and its application in a crawlspace renovation.

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.

Document explaining the benefits of evaluating and identifying energy efficiency retrofit measures that could be made during renovation and maintenance of multifamily buildings.

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.

This document covers a description of the need and applied solutions for supplemental dehumidification in warm-humid climates, especially for energy efficient homes where the sensible cooling load has been dramatically reduced.

Report providing performance results of a home's heat pump water heater and whole-house dehumidifier over a six-month period.

Report evaluating a test home built in Atlanta, GA in the mixed-humid climate zone. The report outlines the features of the house, discusses the implementation of the energy efficient design, and presents the results of short-term characterization testing.

Webpage describing the standards, seminars, exams, etc regarding testing, adjusting and balancing (TAB).

Article outlining the importance of keeping dryer exhaust ducts clean.

A website covering the history of the lightbulb that includes a helpful timeline to illustrate lightbulb innovation from the 1800s - Present.

Report providing a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis inherent to different models as a way of thinking about the transition from traditional business models into a viable model for delivering deep energy retrofits.

Report about seeking a 30% source energy savings targets over a comparable 2009 International Energy Conservation Code-built home in the cold climate zone, using simple measures.

Article about installing balanced ventilation systems.

Webpage providing guidance on the use of thermal mass with passive heating and cooling strategies.

Article describing how an affordable multifamily building achieved energy savings for the same cost as code-minimum construction.

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

Research study describing research underway to better understand building thermal energy modeling tools.

Website with consumer information about various types of lighting.

Case study about affordable housing in a mixed, humid climate.

Article describing the impact of increasingly stringent ventilation standards on multifamily buildings, highlighting the inefficiencies and challenges of exhaust-only ventilation in tightly sealed enclosures, the complications of achieving balanced ventilation, and the unintended consequences of...

Report addressing the ever increasing percentage of whole house energy use that is attributable to miscellaneous electricity loads (MELs) and major appliances.

Research study comparing TRNSYS Type 604 pipe model against laboratory pipe heat loss test data and detailed field monitoring data.

Report discussing the measured variability in indoor space temperatures in a set of 60 homes located in Florida, New York, Oregon, and Washington.

Standard that defines the roles of and minimum requirements for mechanical and natural ventilation systems and the building envelope intended to provide acceptable indoor air quality in low-rise residential buildings. This version of the standard was published in the year 2013, and is available for...

This report describes how twenty homes were tested and monitored in the Zone 2 climate of Houston, Texas, U.S.A., to evaluate the humidity control performance and operating cost of six different integrated dehumidification and ventilation systems that could be applied by production homebuilders.

Document outlining important safety considerations of ventless fireplaces.

Research study developed and verified a fuel oil flow field measurement protocol that is cost effective and can be performed with little training for use by the BB program as well as other weatherization programs and building science researchers.