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Document with important building science considerations, designed for members of the residential construction and remodeling industries, as well as owners and managers who work in affordable housing.

Report providing information to researchers, utility program managers, and building owners interested in controlling heating energy waste and improving resident comfort.

Research study using modeling to determine optimal combination(s) of components/pumps, high efficiency heat sources, plumbing configurations and controls that result in the highest overall efficiency for a hydronic system.

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

Report describing a field investigation of failure rates of whole-house mechanical ventilation systems installed in Florida homes.

Part of a larger LBNL report (Deep Energy Retrofit Guidance for the Building America Solutions Center), the Design and Construction Process chapter provides detailed guidance for each process phase: pre-planning, planning, construction, test-out and post-occupancy.

Document providing renovators and retrofit contractors an overview of considerations when including wall air sealing and insulation in an energy retrofit project.

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

Report detailing passive design strategies used at the Zion National Park Visitor Center, including evaporative cool towers.

An article describing a way to protect drain and ventilation holes in brick veneer siding against pests. Selecting a fine screen mesh opening (1/55-inch or 0.5-mm) is important to guard against small insects such as subterranean termites.

Report describing an air distribution system composed of a series of uniformly-sized ducts that terminate in rooms throughout the home and return to a central manifold, similar in fashion to a “home-run” cross-linked polyethylene plumbing system.

Report describing the analytical study of renewable energy retrofits to homes built before 1980 and whether it is cost efficient or not.

Fact sheet poster describing benefits and qualification of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) certified Zero Energy Ready Homes and providing eight examples of certified homes.

Fact sheet poster describing and comparing the energy-saving and comfort benefits of window attachment options such as low-emissivity storm windows, automated blinds, cellular shades, and solar screens, etc.

Article describing the impact of stack effect on building performance, highlighting how pressure differences caused by temperature and height affect air infiltration and exfiltration, and detailing strategies like compartmentalization and distributed mechanical systems to manage airflow and maintain...

This research paper outlines residential HVAC advanced controls and sensors. It includes a technology review, applications, maintenance and commissioning, occupant behavior and a summary of the state-of-the-art technologies for advanced controls for residential HVAC.

Report about the Advanced Envelope Research effort will provide factory homebuilders with urgently-needed, cost effective methods for meeting emerging energy code requirements.

The main objective of this expert meeting was to bring together a group of experts intimately involved with issues related to assessing the performance of residential high efficiency water heating systems.

Expert meeting held to review and discuss results and future plans for research to improve the performance of hydronic heating systems using condensing boilers and baseboard convectors.

Research report providing a comparison of the most common residential water heating technologies to determine energy-efficient and cost-effective water heating technologies are when subjected to a variety of typical operating conditions.

Research report detailing Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) partnership with Manatee County Habitat for Humanity to design a compact, Zero Energy Ready Home in Florida, tackling challenges like equipment sizing and indoor air quality, offering insights for projects surpassing building code...

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

Report describing ventilation system design, including a central fan integrated supply (CFIS) system, made up of a 6-inch outdoor air intake duct connected to the return side of the air handler with a fan cycling control to make sure the fan runs a programmed minimum amount of time.

Report presenting improved air conditioner (AC) and heat pump (HP) modeling methods in the context of whole-building simulation tools.

Research study showing that for a relatively small investment, a variable speed pool pump can reduce pool pump energy use by 50% to 75%.

Document about development of models for evaluating thermal performance of walls in existing homes that will improve the accuracy of building energy simulation tools when predicting potential energy savings of existing homes.

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).

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

Information sheet designed for the residential construction and remodeling industries, as well as owners and managers working in affordable housing. This sheet presents building guidance for both new construction and rehabilitation, as well as practices that can be used by property maintenance...

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).