http://www.buildingscience.com Research Reports are technical reports written for researchers but accessible to design professionals and builders. These typically provide an in-depth study of a particular topic or describe the results of a research project. They are often peer reviewed and also provide support for advice given in our Building Science Digests. The most recent documents posted are at the top of the list below. daily 1 2010-01-26T02:05:02Z http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1107-final-retrofit-pilot-community-evaluation-report Building Science Corporation seeks to further the energy efficiency market for cold climate, New England area retrofits by supporting projects based on solid building science fundamentals and verified implementation. The utility company National Grid engaged BSC as a partner to develop guidelines for its Deep Energy Retrofit Pilot Program. In addition to guideline development, BSC has acted as a consultant for these projects and others following similar retrofit strategies. No publisher Rosie Osser, Ken Neuhauser and Kohta Ueno guidance-Enclosure design principles deep energy retrofit renovation climate-zone-cold Building America doc-Report Retrofit 2012-01-25T03:08:31Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1104-hygrothermal-analysis-exterior-rockwool-insulation This report is an extension of a previous analysis study titled “High R Walls for the Pacific Northwest – A Hygrothermal Analysis of Various Exterior Wall Systems”, conducted by BSC for Walsh Construction, dated June 1, 2010 that examined the predicted thermal and hygrothermal performance of 17 different wall assemblies in Portland, Oregon. No publisher Jonathan Smegal and John Straube climate-zone-marine guidance-Enclosure design principles analysis-Hygrothermal modelling doc-Report 2012-02-09T20:02:34Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1105-internal-insulation-masonry-walls-final-measure-guideline Load-bearing masonry buildings are a significant portion of the existing building stock. Given the Building America goals of reducing home energy use by 30%-50% (compared to 2009 energy codes for new homes and pre-retrofit energy use for existing homes), insulation and air sealing of mass masonry walls will need to be a component of this work if mass masonry residential buildings are to be addressed. No publisher John Straube, Kohta Ueno and Christopher Schumacher enclosure-Wall assembly doc-Report moisture-Moisture storage Building America analysis-Hygrothermal modelling moisture-Physics of Moisture Control guidance-Wall design Retrofit 2012-01-25T02:55:02Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1106-winn-development-retrofit-community-final-report This project examines a large scale renovation project within a 500 unit, 1960’s era subsidized urban housing community. The development comprises low-rise and mid-rise structures both of which exhibit exposed concrete frames with uninsulated masonry infill walls. The renovation project has a particular focus on indoor environmental quality and energy performance. The nature of occupied rehabilitation necessarily limited the scope of work implemented within apartment units. This research focuses on the airflow control and window replacement measures implemented as part of the renovations to the low-rise apartment buildings. No publisher Ken Neuhauser, Daneil Bergey and Rosie Osser guidance-Enclosure design principles type-midrise type-low-rise Retrofit climate-zone-cold Building America doc-Report renovation 2012-01-25T02:59:21Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1103-new-england-net-zero-production-houses This paper was first presented at the 2011 ASHRAE Annual Conference. A homebuilder in the New England area has been building net zero energy single family homes since 2008 and is continuing with multiple small-scale subdivisions of 20 or more homes. This builder specializes in net zero affordable homes and sustainable net zero communities, while retaining houses with a familiar local vernacular appearance. No publisher Daniel Bergey and Kohta Uneo zero-energy high-performance net zero ASHRAE climate-zone-cold resources-low-energy photovoltaics high performance doc-Report resources-homeowner 2011-12-31T00:23:28Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1102-san-francisco-net-zero-urban-infill This paper was first presented at the 2011 ASHRAE Annual Conference. A startup builder in the San Francisco Bay Area has a goal of producing factory built/modular houses with net zero energy performance. Their first prototype was a two-story, two bedroom, urban infill townhouse design. It has been in operation for roughly a year, and has been extensively measured and monitored, providing information about its net zero performance. No publisher Kohta Ueno and John Straube zero-energy analysis-Modelling Tools ASHRAE resources-low-energy doc-Report climate-zone-marine 2011-12-31T00:25:35Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1005-building-america-high-r-value-high-performance-residential-buildings-all-climate-zones The following report is an excerpt from the 2010 Building Science Corporation Industry Team Building America Annual Report. Many concerns, including the rising cost of energy, climate change concerns, and demands for increased comfort, have lead to the desire for increased insulation levels in many new and existing buildings. Building codes and green building codes are being changed to require higher levels of thermal insulation both for residential and commercial construction. This report will review, and summarize the current state of understanding and research into enclosures with higher thermal resistance, so-called “High-R Enclosures”. Recommendations are provided for further research. No publisher John Straube guidance-Enclosure design principles high-performance resources-technical high-R wall Building America high performance doc-Report climate-Building design and climate 2011-12-31T00:38:50Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1013-freeze-thaw-resistance-clay-brick-interior-insulation-retrofits This paper is from the proceedings of the Thermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings XI International Conference, December 5-9, 2010 in Clearwater, Florida. This paper summarizes some of the limitations of the various approaches to assessing the freeze-thaw resistance of brick masonry units and presents a detailed methodology for using frost dilatometry to determine the critical degree of saturation of brick material. Test results are presented for bricks from several historical load-bearing masonry. Recommendations are made for applying this approach together with hygrothermal model in the design of retrofit insulation projects. No publisher Straube/Schumacher/Mensinga guidance-Enclosure design principles guidance-Wall design deep energy retrofit analysis-Hygrothermal modelling doc-Report enclosure-Wall assembly-insulation Retrofit 2011-12-31T00:42:47Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1012-residential-exterior-wall-superinsulation-retrofit This paper is from the proceedings of the Thermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings XI International Conference, December 5-9, 2010 in Clearwater, Florida. The issues of climate change, energy security, and economics are all strong drivers for improving energy efficiency levels in a variety of sectors. In residential construction, although some inroads have been made in new houses, the stock of existing housing represents a huge opportunity for energy retrofits. The vanguard of these efforts has been pushing toward retrofitting very high insulation levels (i.e., “superinsulation,” or “deep energy retrofits”). Several cold-climate residential retrofit projects have been completed using an exterior insulation approach on light-frame above-grade walls. This type of retrofit is a reasonable step if a recladding of the building is already being done for aesthetic or ongoing maintenance reasons. The methods demonstrated here result in walls with insulation levels in the R-35 to R-40 range. This paper presents many of the lessons learned from these experiences, including overall enclosure strategies, such as air barriers, drainage planes, and moisture control. Several case-specific solutions to particular problems are described, including exterior air barrier approaches, wall sill replacement, and several approaches dealing with window penetrations. In addition, detailing recommendations and economic analysis of these measures are presented. Hygrothermal simulations were run to evaluate the changes in sensitivity to moisture intrusion due to these retrofit measures. No publisher Kohta Ueno guidance-Enclosure design principles drainage moisture-Drainage plane guidance-Wall design deep energy retrofit air barrier enclosure-Wall assembly-insulation climate-zone-cold doc-Report airflow-Airtightness/Air barrier Retrofit 2011-12-31T00:45:58Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1011-evaluation-cladding-water-resistive-barrier-performance-hot-humid-climates-real-weather-real-time No publisher Weston/Minnich/Van Mullekom/Smegal/Schumacher/Conlon guidance-Enclosure design principles resources-technical ASHRAE moisture-Physics of Moisture Control doc-Report climate-zone-hot-humid 2011-12-31T00:56:39Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1010-innovative-passive-ventilation-water-resistive-barriers-how-do-they-work This paper is from the proceedings of the Thermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings XI International Conference, December 5-9, 2010 in Clearwater, Florida. The issue of solar driven moisture that is associated with water absorptive claddings has often been raised, and it is becoming increasingly relevant as the demand for improved energy efficiency buildings continues to rise. Improved energy efficiency building enclosures generally means an increase in R-value and reduced air leakage, which commonly reduces the drying potential of wall assemblies. Essentially, less energy is available from inside the structure to assist the transport of moisture away from the building enclosure. As energy efficiency requirements are pushing towards zero-energy structures, passive means the sun or wind become more critical approaches for achieving enhanced drying. This paper investigates the hygrothermal performance of wall assemblies with brick veneer cladding as well as manufactured adhered stone veneer with two different types of water resistive barriers. One type is a conventional spunbonded polyolefin-based WRB, and the other type is an innovative three-dimensional dual ventilated sheet. This paper not only shows field-monitored data for both assemblies, but it also explains the building physics involved in both systems. The field performance data is based on one year-long field studies with wood-framed test walls installed on the north and south side of test huts located in Charleston, SC and Waterloo, ON. This paper demonstrates the beneficial effects of passively driven airflow through both solar and wind forces allowing small amounts of air flow to provide a significant increase in drying potential to walls that include dual ventilation water resistive barriers. Results show that the three-dimensional dual ventilated WRB not only provides enhanced drying potential by deploying passive solar energy, but it also provides a control layer against warm-weather inward vapor drives from the absorptive claddings, which have been implicated as reasons for numerous moisture related problems. No publisher Jablonka/Karagiozis/Straube subsystems-HVAC guidance-Building systems/HVAC resources-technical relative humidity airflow-HVAC interactions doc-Report 2011-12-31T01:46:30Z BSC Article http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1009-building-america-space-conditioning-systems-high-performance-homes The following report is an excerpt from the 2010 Building Science Corporation Industry Team Building America Annual Report. The main focus for this research project is the integration of a combination space and domestic hot water heating system (“combi system”) with a high-efficiency air source heat pump to optimize efficiency and comfort. No publisher Armin Rudd subsystems-HVAC high-performance guidance-Building systems/HVAC resources-technical Building America high performance doc-Report 2011-12-31T01:51:14Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1008-building-america-enhanced-dehumidification The following report is an excerpt from the 2010 Building Science Corporation Industry Team Building America Annual Report. The main focus for this research project is on the AAON heat pump system with digital scroll compressor and modulating hot-gas condenser reheat installed in the GreenCraft Builders prototype house in Lewisville, TX. No publisher Armin Rudd guidance-Building systems/HVAC resources-technical dehumidification Building America doc-Report climate-zone-hot-humid 2011-12-31T01:58:14Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1007-building-america-ventilation-efficiency-controlled-ventilation-systems The following report is an excerpt from the 2010 Building Science Corporation Industry Team Building America Annual Report. A wide variety of ventilation systems are installed in US houses to reduce interior contaminant levels and safeguard occupant health. The relative merits of these systems are subjects of ongoing research. Prior work by Building Science Corporation has investigated the effects of air distribution and mixing on pollutant levels within the building. The present work is aimed at discovering the energy costs of various ventilation approaches in operation, through modeling of typical houses across the TMY2 location set. Both measures are helpful in recommending a particular ventilation system. No publisher Daniel Bergey and Armin Rudd subsystems-HVAC guidance-Building systems/HVAC efficiency Building America doc-Report 2011-12-31T02:02:10Z BSC File http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-1006-ba-high-r-roofs-case-study-analysis The following report is an excerpt from the 2010 Building Science Corporation Industry Team Building America Annual Report. The goal of this research is to find optimally designed, cost effective roof insulation systems that can be included with other enclosure details to help reduce whole house energy use by 70%. This report will compare a variety of roof insulating strategies and present their advantages and disadvantages according to several comparison criteria. No publisher John Straube and Aaron Grin high-R roof Building America guidance-Roof design enclosure-Roof assembly doc-Report 2011-12-31T02:08:44Z BSC File