BASC Search | Building America Solution Center

Architectural shading can include large eaves, a porch roof, a well-designed pergola, or other building elements

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Locating windows on adjacent and opposite sides of the house will allow cross ventilation regardless of wind direction

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Sources of heat gain in a house include solar gains, infiltration, conduction through walls and roof, occupants, and internal equipment

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Sources of heat gain in a house include solar gains, infiltration, conduction through walls and roof, occupants, and internal equipment

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Whole-house fans or wind-driven cross ventilation can be used to draw air across thermal mass for a night flush strategy

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A screened-in porch will protect windows from rain, provide shade, and allow more airflow through windows than window screens would

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Comfort ventilation focuses on airflow over occupants; in this example of wind-driven cross ventilation, the air is directed through the main occupied areas of the bedroom

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Airflow can be directed across thermal mass in the ceiling, floor, or elsewhere inside the home through various window and louver configurations

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Even when wind is blowing parallel to a wall, an open casement window can create a zone of higher pressure near the window opening, driving airflow into the house

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Weather-Related Disasters Increase Over Past 50 Years, Causing More Damage but Fewer Deaths

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An overview of impacts from weather, climate, and water extremes globally from 1970 to 2019 based on disaster data from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT)

Right: This house plan orients broad building surfaces away from the west and east, trees are used to shade the west and east, and large overhangs shade windows on the south wall

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Ceiling fans can be used to aid a night flush strategy by helping to cool down wall and floor surfaces more thoroughly at night, and by providing comfort ventilation during the day

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Porch roofs, pergolas, and large overhangs can effectively shade windows and doors facing south, southeast, southwest, or even due east or west for most of the day if the overhang is very deep and sufficiently wide.

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This house has key features to block heat such as such as tree shading for the west wall and roof, minimized west-facing windows, and a porch roof, floor, and wing walls creating deep architectural overhangs and fins to shade south-facing windows

Right - This house has key features to block heat such as such as tree shading for the west wall and roof, minimized west-facing windows, and a porch roof, floor, and wing walls creating deep architectural overhangs and fins to shade south-facing windows

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Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) and Snow Course Data and Products

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The website by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) National Water and Climate Center tracks snowpack sensor stations at multiple sites across the country providing an interactive US map of snow loads.

Wildfire Statistics

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Fact sheet providing recent statistics on wildfires in the U.S.

U.S. Geological Survey

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Webpage for the United States Geological Survey for the Department of the Interior.

Building with SIPs in Alaska

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Video from Cold Climate Housing Research Center on SIP construction and how to build with these materials.

Groundwater Control, Info-101

Reference

Information sheet about groundwater control.

Embodied Carbon 101

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Webpage describing embodied carbon through definition, significance to climate, and importance to policymaking.

Wildfire Hazard Potential

Reference

Webpage from USDA and U.S. Forest Service with a map of potential wildfire risk across the U.S.

Flooded Homes Cleanup Guidance

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Website providing series of short how-to videos, infographics and more resources on cleaning up a home after a flood.

Excessive Heat Events Guidebook

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Guidebook meant to provide public officials with information on excessive heat event.

Mass Save Deep Energy Retrofit Builder Guide, GM-1302

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Guidebook providing useful examples of high performance retrofit techniques for the building enclosure of wood frame residential construction in a cold and somewhat wet climate.

Flood Cleanup Infographic

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This document includes tips for safely and effectively cleaning up a home after a flood. It is available in several languages.

Rebuilding Houston, BSI–101

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Report covering the reconstruction of flood damaged homes.

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

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Interactive map maintained by the USDA showing plant hardiness zones throughout the U.S.

General PV Specification

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Brochure on specifications for PV systems.

Dealing with and preventing ice dams

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Webpage explaining what causes the formation of ice dams on roofs and steps to take to prevent them.

Preparing for a Winter Storm

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Webpage describing steps homeowners can take to prepare their home and car for winter storms.