Library

Report describing the performance, cost, and carbon impacts of unitary heat pump water heaters with load-shifting controls in a shared configuration for a multi-family project, highlighting significant savings in energy usage, CO2 emissions, and utility costs.

A webpage by the DOE on tips for saving energy with an evaporative cooler.

Article describing how evaporative coolers work and how to maintain them.

Image of design wet bulb temperatures in the U.S. and where evaporative cooling is most appropriate.

Web article describing the evolution of evaporative coolers, water usage of evaporative coolers, and links to information on selecting an evaporative cooler.

Guidebook meant to provide public officials with information on excessive heat event.

Online geospatial map with interactive viewer showing flood risk areas and base flood elevations

Website describing and providing links to FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center, which home owners and builders can use to determine the flood risk of their location.

Website describing and providing a map showing the tsunami risk index for the United States, which home owners and builders can use to determine the tsunami risk of their location.

Report about field testing that characterizes the uniformity of room-to-room ventilation air distribution under various operating conditions by examining multi-zone tracer gas decay curves and calculating local age-of-air.

Guide from Building Science Corporation on how to construct a flood and hurricane resistant home.

This document includes tips for safely and effectively cleaning up a home after a flood. It is available in several languages.

Website providing information to the public about preparing for floods and floods related to fires.

Information sheet with manufacturer specifications about insulated concrete forms.

A fact sheet on how to prepare for a natural disaster by storing food and water through an emergency food supply.

Checklist providing information about the specific requirements of FORTIFIED Roof™ design and construction standard for re-roofing specific for high wind resistance.

Checklist providing information about the specific requirements of FORTIFIED Roof™ design and construction standard for re-roofing specific for hurricane resistance.

Article describing what the building codes say about frost-protected shallow foundations as a cost-saving alternative to conventional concrete foundations.

Commercial website providing images to subscribers.

Guidance from HUD for volunteer team leaders, project managers and supervisors who work in recovery and rebuilding after natural disasters.

Report about opportunities for ventilation when traditional methods are limited by weather conditions or by contaminants in the outdoor air.

Report identifying Building America and 2021 International Energy Conservation Code climate zone designations for every county in the United States; where a county's climate zone designation has changed since the 2018 IECC, that change is indicated as well.

IRC guide referencing wood truss bracing best practices and requirements.

Report describing a laboratory assessment that provides insights into space requirements and venting strategies for heat pump water heaters (HPWH) to enhance retrofit installations and provide actionable guidance for manufacturers, designers, engineers, installers, and owners.

Federal webpage providing information regarding extreme heat and health for the United States.

Report providing information for HVAC designers, installers, and consumers about air source heat pumps.

Website providing information on low-energy and standard cooling systems, with a focus on saving energy.

Report presenting seismic design and construction guidance for one- and two-family houses for homebuilders, knowledgeable homeowners, and other non-engineers.

Report presenting construction methods, building products, appliances and equipment of four single-family houses that achieve dramatic energy reductions and approach “net zero energy” use.

An article and video of a breakdown on the preparation and installation of basement insulation.

Guide discussing observations, recommendations, and technical guidance as a result of Hurricane Katrina

Code describing the requirements for existing site-built single-family homes to receive roof-to-wall retrofits when re-roofing.

Paper providing a comprehensive overview of HVAC system design considerations and challenges specific to multifamily residential buildings, focusing on optimizing performance and addressing common issues.

Software tool available free online that can help calculate heating and cooling requirements to accurately size HVAC equipment in as little as 15 minutes.

Correcting pressure imbalances in your HVAC system can result in a healthier, more efficient home.

Article outlining the casuses and solutions for ice dam problems.

Study using simulations to understand the impact that shading and natural ventilation would have had on the survivability of non-air-conditioned buildings during the 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest.

Report discussing the importance of durability and energy efficiency in building construction.

Factsheet describing techniques for installing ductless heat pumps in cold climate locations.

Website providing a probabilistic map of the expected number of damaging earthquakes around the U.S.

Website providing a probabilistic map of the expected number of damaging earthquakes around the U.S.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Regulation 16 CFR Part 460: Federal regulation on labeling of home insulation products.

Report describing the costs of electric vehicle charging stations in the United States.

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, wind, and fire loads, and their combinations for general structural design. This version of the standard was published in the year 2016 and is available in both digital...

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, seismic, and wind loads, and their combinations for general structural design. The current version of this standard was published in the year 2022 and is available in both digital...

This paper discusses model validation using data from three thermosiphon systems.

Webpage for the CEC’s Modern Appliance Efficiency Database System

List of appliance brands and models, showing their performance and efficiency as tested by the appropriate standard.

Article describing mulch requirements and benefits.

Article describing mulching with lawn clippings.