Library

A guide on how to anchor fuel tanks to avoid damage from flooding and seismic events to the home by using straps and solid concrete slabs.

Fact sheet describing methods for flashing and air-sealing windows and doors.

A brochure educating homeowners on how to install self-locking devices on cabinets, drawers and doors, including child-proof latches and drawer locks.

Report describing extensive renovations to a historic home.

Report describing procedures for increasing sensible efficiencies through increased flow rates across the air handling unit and increased indoor coil sizes.

Report presenting results of a laboratory experiment studying combi systems as a mode to eliminate safety issues associated with natural draft appliances.

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...

Document discussing changes in testing the annual performance ratings for solar water heaters.

Website providing an introduction to the concepts and principles of seismic design.

Report promoting public safety and welfare by reducing the risk of earthquake-induced damage to existing homes.

Report providing retrofit measures intended to significantly reduce damage and increase occupant safety for existing buildings.

Article outlining the key issues related to the protection of the building envelope against seismic forces.

Report describing construction of test homes in Atlanta, GA meeting Building America savings targets and serving as a basis of design for other homes Martin Dodson plans to build within the Serenbe community.

Website with consumer information about duct cleaning.

How hard can it be to insulate a flat sheet of concrete? I mean you only have three choices – on the top, on the bottom, or on the edge. OK, you might have some combination of the three as well.

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

Website describing how solar water heaters -- also called solar domestic hot water systems -- can be a cost-effective way to generate hot water for your home.

Research study presenting a unique opportunity to both identify and evaluate deep retrofit measures that are practical and potentially cost effective for the retrofit market, as well as review the cost effectiveness of the Passive House design approach for achieving energy savings in deep retrofits.

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...

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).

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Document describing the impacts of tree cover on property values.

Information sheet disucssing myths about insulated concrete forms.

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.

Report describing seismic retrofit of historical buildings.

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

Information sheet about types and installation of insulation.

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

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

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.