Library

Report providing guidance on protecting foundation walls and enclosures from flood damage.

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

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.

Report briefly reviewing past research on the effects of occupant behavior on residential energy use and then covering a two year pilot evaluation of a low cost residential energy feedback system installed in twenty case study homes in Florida.

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.

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.

Document outlining the approach to quality assurance in the construction process as recommended by Building Science Corporation for new residential construction.

Flyer describing reasons and best practices for raising electrical systems above flood-levels.

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.

Guidance document describing urban heat islands, what they are, how they form, why we care, and including some strategies to reduce them.

Guide providing information for professional builders and contractors rehabbing flooded single-family houses with emphasis on safe practices and the most important activities in the rehab process.

Document presenting results from testing prototype HVAC duct system designs that would locate the entire length of duct work within the air and thermal barriers of the building envelope. These include one that incorporated a high-side supply register, one that utilized a single soffit located within...

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...

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.

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

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 2016, and is available for...

This Standard provides a consistent, uniform methodology for evaluating the airtightness of building envelopes and heating and cooling air ducts and the air flows of mechanical ventilation systems.

Guide providing guidance on conducting seismic risk assessments for buildings. The link goes to the current version of this standard, which was published in the year 2016 and is available for preview and purchase. Previous editions of this standard were published in the year 2016, 2007, and 1999...

Standard covering the installation of fenestration products in new and existing construction which was published in the year 2007, and is available for preview and purchase at the referenced link.

Practice providing a guide or standard to undertake seismic risk assessment of properties. The current version of the standard was published in the year 2016 and is available for preview and purchase at the link. Previous versions of the standard were published in the years 2016 and 2007, and are...

Guide describing the installation of windows in walls that have foam plastic insulating; guide provides several methods for attaching, supporting, and flashing windows in walls with rigid foam sheathing. (Note: The link only goes to the table of contents for the guide, the full guide can be...

Article describing three ways to strengthen the roof-to-wall connections in an existing home.

Article providing fundamental information and recommendations for shading windows for energy savings.

Web page providing information about water use in pools and spas and tips for how to increase water efficiency.

Document describing the impacts of tree cover on property values.

Case study of new home construction in the hot-dry and mixed-dry climate zones.

Report describing seismic retrofit of historical buildings.

Document providing an overview of the Thermal Bypass Checklist for the ENERGY STAR Qualified Homes program.

Report discussing Building America whole house systems research within the broad effort to reduce or eliminate the environmental impact of building and provides specific recommendations for future Building America research based on Building Science Corporations experience with several recent...

Case study about a structural sheathing product composed of enhanced EPS rigid foam with OSB adhered on one side.

Document providing a case study of commissioned performance measures that justify costs for these demonstration and "live" show homes.

Document describing the measured annual performance data from 12 recent-vintage very low energy homes in the US.

Report describing concentrations of 54 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ventilation rates that were measured in four new manufactured houses over 2 - 9.5 months following installation and in seven new site built houses 1 - 2 months after completion.

A guide describing how to do wall bracing calculations and evaluations.

A presentation about the need for rainscreens including the damage water and moisture ingress into a home’s siding and framing can cause, and ways to design a resilient wall that drains and ventilates well.

Information sheet with the Waste Reduction Model (WARM), designed to help solid waste planners and organizations track and voluntarily report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions from several different waste management practices.

A preparedness guide guiding homeowners on how to secure an indoor home water heater safely to wall studs.