Library

Report addressing barriers to information, contractor resources and cost savings associated with steam balancing multifamily buildings.

Report intending to provide useful information as the DOE/BA develops and implements comprehensive communications and outreach strategies for demonstration homes.

Document offering methods to greatly reduce lighting energy use through the application of high quality fluorescent and light emitting diode (LED) technologies.

Report describing the equipment selection of a split system air conditioner and furnace for an example house in Chicago, Illinois, as well as a heat pump system for an example house in Orlando, Florida.

Document targeting retrofit program managers, retrofit contractors, policy makers, academic researchers, and non-governmental organizations that work to realize energy savings from home energy upgrades (HEUs).

Report describing findings from research related to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) companies that have made the decision to transition to whole house performance contracting (WHPC).

Discussion of building sheathing.

Fact sheet describing recommendations for exceeding NFIP regulatory requirements for new construction and for repairs, remodeling, and additions, including building foundations, enclosures below the Base Flood Elevation (BFE), use of nonstructural fill, use of space below the BFE, utilities...

Research study determining how well high performance envelope and innovative cooling system interact to cost effectively reduce cooling energy use in this hot-dry climate.

Research study making several recommendations to whole-home program designers and implementers for improving the cost effectiveness and reach of whole-home programs.

Information for properly sizing gas lines for use with tankless water heaters and other gas appliances.

Document about laboratory testing of five integrated heat pump water heaters (HPWH).

Document about NREL's repository of residential building characteristics and historical energy use data, used to improve accuracy of residential energy analysis tools.

Standard covering minimum required health and safety diagnostics and specifications for BPI's Building Analyst Professional certification.

The Technician's Guide equips practitioners with the knowledge to properly implement all of the measurement procedures required in the HVAC QI Specification.

Research study exploring retrofit procedures and simulated post-occupancy data for three homes in an effort to determine the effectiveness of retrofit packages.

Report using data from various sources to characterize the impact on human health and property damage from indoor environmental quality and other hazards.

Projectile missile testing of various wall panel configuration to understand how the different wall constructions would perform when struck with wind driven debris from a hurricane.

Information sheet disucssing myths about insulated concrete forms.

Article describing the perfect wall and and in what order to control rain, air, vapor, and heat.

Research study identifying barriers, industry status, critical obstacles to documenting added value from energy efficiency improvements, current opportunities to support reporting about energy efficiency, and next steps toward enabling energy efficiency financing market transformation.

Even as the worst housing market correction in more than 60 years appeared to turn a corner in 2009, the fallout from sharply lower home prices and high unemployment continued.

Fact sheet outlining best design and construction practices for tile roofing in high wind areas; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

Information sheet about types and installation of insulation.

Report describing actions home and business owners can take to deal with underground storage tanks that are displaced by flood waters and preventative steps they can take to reduce the likelihood of tank displacement in the future.

Presentation describing the challenges of insulating an existing basement, presented to the Building America residential energy-efficiency stakeholder meeting.

Technical fact sheet highlighting important building connections and illustrating the proper use of various types of connection hardware; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

Fact sheet describing the purpose of Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) and Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs), how to obtain FIRMs, DFIRMs, and Flood Insurance Studies (FISs), and highlighting features that are important to coastal builders, including flood zones and flood elevations;; also...

Fact sheet describing the certification requirements for structural design and methods of construction in V Zones; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

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 2010, and is available for...

Report summarizing NRELs efforts to develop diagnostic test cases to conduct accurate energy simulations when phase change materials (PCMs) are modeled in residential buildings.

Standard that provides expanded and updated requirements for producing, marketing, and specifying plywood for construction and industrial uses.

Report summarizing current research, summarizes issues that have been experienced with current best practices, and recommends ways in which the best practices can be improved for water managing sheathings.

Fact sheet describing how weatherstripping can be an easy and cost-effective way to save money on energy costs and improve comfort by reducing drafts.

Report evaluating performance/efficiency of central heat pump water heaters and quality assurance/quality control processes in system startup, operation and efficiency program participation.

Manual showing how to properly use grass swales to manage excess water runoff.

Factsheet describing the importance of system charging, superheat and subcooling.

Report describing work conducted by the Building Science Corporation (BSC) Building America Research Teams Energy Efficient Housing Research Partnerships project.

Report outlining the features of a test house built in Silver Spring , Maryland, and discussing the implementation of the energy efficient design, and reports on the short-term testing results.

Report providing guidance on how to improve the wind resistance of existing residential buildings in Mississippi and across the Gulf Coast.

Fact sheet describing flashing detail concepts for window and door openings that provide adequate resistance to water intrusion in coastal environments, do not depend solely on sealants, are integral with secondary weather barriers (e.g., housewrap), and are adequately attached to the wall...

Report describing the design and construction of a highly energy efficient community of ten duplexes in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

A hurricane retrofit guide describing techniques for strengthening roof-to-wall connections for family homes.

Report summarizing information on wood as an engineering material, and presents properties of wood and wood-based products of particular concern to the architect and engineer.

Fact sheet describing typical wood-pile-to-beam connections; basic construction guidance for various connection methods, including connections for misaligned piles; and pile bracing connection techniques; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact...

Research study describing demonstration homes that provided a wealth of information for the building community in terms of the science, effort, and cost of increasing the energy efficiency of our nation's housing stock.