Library

A guide for users and energy raters of insulated siding as home insulation.

Article describing how insulated siding can save homeowners energy by providing continuous exterior insulation.

Article describing methods for designing and constructing multifamily buildings with insulating concrete forms (ICFs).

Website providing builders with information about meeting RESNET Grade 1 criteria when installing insulation.

Article describing the insurance savings of a home with a hip roof versus a gable roof from the perspective of an insurance advisor.

Guide describing the use of a collaborative, multidisciplinary process that considers and optimizes the building as an entire system including its technical equipment and surroundings for efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective construction and operation over the building’s entire lifespan.

Fact sheet describing the newly developed Ventilation-Integrated Comfort System (VICS) that reduces space requirements and eliminates costly ductwork for separate heating, cooling, and ventilation systems, all while enhancing performance, addressing the demand for energy-efficient homes, and...

Report describing the objective evaluation of space conditioning interactions between heat pump water heaters and home heating systems during winter 2016-2017, revealing a smaller than anticipated impact on space conditioning loads.

This webpage provides an interactive walk-through of the installation of a heat pump water heater in a home in Massachusetts, including how-to videos of the installation, video interviews with the homeowners, installer, and utility program partners, and visual tours of the home before and after...

Article describing how the configuration of surrounding buildings affects the wind loads on a hip roof in a low-rise building.

Article outlining the use of spray polyurethane foam in residential buildings.

Article discussing indoor water management.

List of acceptance criteria for the ICC.

Webpage describing current and past versions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), establishing a baseline for energy efficiency with performance standards for building envelopes, mechanical systems, lighting systems and service water heating systems in homes and commercial...

Report about promoting energy efficiency for Hilton Head Island.

Report that describes BSC's Houses That Work II (HTWII) climate-specific technical resource, beginning with an overall HTWII introduction and four sections explaining the four most important hygro-thermal climate regions: Hot-Humid, Mixed-Humid, Cold, and Hot-Dry/Mixed-Dry.

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.

Research study describing field testing performed in 32 two-story Florida homes to characterize wind washing failures of the house air and thermal boundary.

Report describing as-found interior platform return plenums, the magnitude of their contribution to the total amount of duct leakage, and techniques and results of retrofits executed by the HVAC trade during equipment replacement.

Report describing the results of a 21-home field study investigating the effectiveness and failure rates of whole-house mechanical ventilation systems installed in Florida homes over the last 15 years.

Report covering reservoir claddings, back ventilation and vapor throttles.

Research report discussing the reduction of HVAC energy consumption to meet U.S. greenhouse gas targets and DOE's energy-efficient building goals. It introduces iComfort, an IoT-based system for optimizing home comfort and energy savings.

Report discussing how to create livable space in the attic that meets IRC code requirements by either creating a ventilated roof assembly, or and unvented attic assembly.

Webpage describing benefits of adding battery storage to homes and an estimation tool.

Blog article citing the risks and downsides of attic ventilation fans from a building science perspective.

Information sheet about efficiency and health benefits of MERV filters.

Article explaining how to use integrated pest management to choose methods of pest control that are safe and effective.

Document from IBHS explaining how to inspect homes for earthquake preparedness and retrofit solutions for homes that have suffered structural damage as a result of earthquakes.

Report describing ways to retrofit a home to make it more hurricane resistant.

Article describing dozens of ideas on how to retrofit a home so it is more earthquake ready.

The purpose for this document is to provide basic guidance on the use of proven installation techniques that can be used by installers to help ensure correct “dense pack” application of JM Spider® in drill & fill applications.

Article describing walls and moisture development on them.

Article describing air leakage in buildings.

Guide describing tools for island and hurricane-prone communities on redevelopment and rehabilitation of homes to prepare for future natural disasters.

Web page describing how to identify heat-related illness and how to prevent it.

Article from University of Arizona on keeping homes cool during extreme heat, both personal and system changes.

Information sheet providing links and resources for insulating basements in cold climates.

Webpage describing how to conserve heat or find alternative heat sources during a power outage to keep one room warm.

Article providing guidance for installing manufactured stone veneer, including information on rainscreens.

Article discussing the downside to recessed can lights.

Article showing steps for kick out flashing at roof-wall intersection.

Website providing information about Knauf Insulation.

Report on performance of current diagnostics as well as a draft test method for use in future air flow evaluations.

Guidance on performance of current diagnostics as well as a draft test method for use in future air flow evaluations.

Report targeting the growing number of homes utilizing deep retrofit measures and new construction practices to realize sufficiently lower infiltration levels that require mechanical ventilation as prescribed by ASHRAE Standard 62.2.

Report summarizing results of testing emerging combo water heating technologies under controlled laboratory operations, that differentiate the performance of the various packaged equipment configurations being offered.