Library

Building code for the state of Florida.

2012 edition of code establishing a baseline for existing building retrofits to reach appropriate safety levels under new construction requirements covered in other ICC codes.

2012 edition of code establishing regulations involving life and property safety from fires and explosion hazards, including emergency planning, fire department access and water supply, automatic sprinkler systems, fire alarms, and hazardous materials planning and storage.

Report describing practices and considerationsfor more efficient water use in pools, spas, and fountains.

Document providing specifications (including the definition of a consistent reference building for new construction, assumptions and methods for analyzing retrofits of existing buildings) to facilitate accurate and consistent analysis of new and existing, single-family and multifamily, buildings...

Code describing energy codes for energy-conserving and compliant designs in Florida.

The purpose of this standard is to establish minimum requirements to safeguard the public health, safety and general welfare relative to the design, construction and installation of storm shelters constructed for protection from high winds associated with tornadoes and hurricanes.

2015 edition of the code establishing regulations to safeguard life and property from the intrusion of wildland fire and to prevent structure fires from spreading to wildland fuels; regulates defensible space and provides ignition-resistant construction requirements to protect against fire exposure...

Article describing ways builders can improve the hurricane resistance of the homes they construct, especially 1) strengthening the continuous load path, 2) upgrading the building envelope, and 3) improving the roof system performance.

Report providing builders in the hot-dry and mixed-dry climates with guidance for building homes that have whole-house energy savings of 40% over the Building America benchmark with no added overall costs for consumers.

Report describing a project whose goal was to determine the prevalence of residential comfort system faults with a focus on air conditioners and heat pumps, and on key faults that can occur during installation: (1) incorrect refrigerant charge level (undercharge or overcharge); (2) indoor coil...

Report describing the results of a field study of five different ventilation system types in 29 homes in the Pacific Northwest.

Report describing testing and analysis on deep energy retrofits of existing single-family homes in the U.S.

Standard providing guidance on how to select, size, and locate the supply air diffusers, grilles and registers, and the return grilles.

Guide describing advanced framing, a system of construction framing techniques designed to optimize material usage and increase energy efficiency.

Report (1) compares existing measurement methods, based on field testing in a wide range of buildings, (2) presents the development of two new methods to directly measure exterior and interior leakage of an attached unit, and compares to existing methods; and (3) experimentally evaluates the...

Brochure about creating an air barrier by sealing drywall assemblies.

Brochure about creating an air barrier at tub, shower and fireplace walls.

Report describing two retrofit duct sealing techniques - manually-applied sealants and injecting a spray sealant, that were implemented in several low-rise multi-unit buildings in North Carolina.

Case study about high humidity, mold and condensation on surfaces in S. Florida, and how building characteristics cause and amplify these problems.

This report describes research conducted to evaluate air transfer between the garage and living space in a single-family detached home constructed to the 2009 IECC by a production home builder in Maryland.

Case study examining the problem of unwanted air transfer from garage to living space and the effectiveness of garage exhaust ventilation or house supply ventilation to provide a solution to that.

Research report describing study of interior and exterior air sealing techniques to stop ice dams in five 1.5-story retrofit homes conducted by the NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership team run by University of Minnesota.

Paper describing an experiment to quantify shade tree impacts on cooling-related electricity consumption, finding that there may be sizable benefits in hot regions.

Report summarizing systems research activities for new housing in hot-humid climates, including NightCool, interior duct systems in manufactured housing, ventilation and dehumidification, plug load reduction and solar and conventional hot water.

Report outlining workflow and results of regression models on monthly and daily utility data (meter readings of electricity consumption), outlining a process for screening and gathering useful results from inverse models.

Report about a building project in the marine climate.

Document highlighting federal accessibility laws which may apply to a housing development, and common mistakes made in the field which, if avoided, will help to ensure compliance.

Information sheet describing techniques for insulating basements.

Article describing how demand plumbing systems send cold water back to the water heater until hot water arrives at the sink, shower or other fixture where it is needed.

Case study describing solar thermal and photovoltaic systems in new construction.

Brochure about air sealing windows.

Brochure explaining the essential basis for advanced framing and some of the more common advanced framing details.

Brochure providing information about flashing in all cimates.

Fact sheet describing air-sealing at rim joists.

Brochure with details on HVAC duct air sealing.

Brochure with information about ducts in conditioned space.

Brochure with information on maintaining drainage plane continuity at deck ledger locations.

Information sheet with details on pan flashing for exterior walls.

Information sheet about reservoir claddings.

Information sheet about sealing combustion appliances to ensure good indoor air quality.

Information sheet about insulating slabs.

Information sheet about soil gas control strategies for foundations.

Information sheet offering general recommendations on supplemental humidity control and outlines viable system configurations.

Information sheet providing recommendations on the installation of vapor control layers.

Information sheet providing information about vapor management in building assemblies.

Presentation describing details for installing structural insulated panels (SIPs).

Case study describing solar thermal and photovoltaic systems in new construction.

Document describing the Building America research benchmark for the residential building program.

Report considers a number of promising wall systems that can meet the requirement for better thermal control.