Research Reports are technical reports written for researchers but accessible to design professionals and builders. These reports 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.
Transformations, Inc. is a residential development and building company that has partnered with Building Science Corporation to build new construction net-zero energy houses in Massachusetts under the Building America program. There are three communities that are being constructed through this partnership: Devens Sustainable Housing (“Devens”), The Homes at Easthampton Meadow (“Easthampton”) and Phase II of the Coppersmith Way Development (“Townsend”). This report covers all of the single-family new construction homes that have been completed to date. The houses built in these developments are net zero energy capable homes built in a cold climate. The set of measures offered by the developer exceeds the 30% energy saving goals set by the Building America program for New Homes in the cold climate for 2013. The houses will contribute to developing solutions and addressing gaps in enclosures and space conditioning research.
This project examines implementation of advanced retrofit measures in the context of a large-scale weatherization program and the archetypal Chicago, Illinois, brick bungalow. In response to the apparent weatherization program limitations with respect to homes with masonry bearing wall construction, this research project examines two distinct strategies for insulating and air sealing the top of houses. One strategy applies best practice air sealing methods and a standard insulation method to the attic floor. The other strategy creates an unvented roof assembly using materials and methods typically available to weatherization contractors.
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.
Through discussion of five case studies (test homes), this project evaluates strategies to elevate the performance of existing homes to a level commensurate with best-in-class implementation of high performance new construction homes. The test homes featured in this research activity participated in Deep Energy Retrofit (DER) Pilot Program sponsored by the electric and gas utility National Grid in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Retrofit strategies are evaluated for impact on durability and indoor air quality in addition to energy performance.
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.
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.
A calibrated ventilation model was exercised over a range of parameters seen in new and existing housing in the United States. This report was first published in ASHRAE Transactions (17, Louisville 2009). American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, GA. Reprinted with permission.
This paper describes a fully instrumented large-scale mock-up completed in a southern Ontario private school to allow direct comparisons between insulated and non-insulated walls with a focus on the evaluation of freeze-thaw and corrosion risks. Climate conditions and wall temperature, relative humidity and moisture content are compared and discussed. Climate conditions (wetting and temperature) over the monitoring period were less severe than average. As a result, measured values were used to refine computer models to simulate wall performance under more severe climate conditions.
The research reported in this paper is aimed at increasing the understanding of the hygrothermal performance of interior basement insulation systems by a combination of field monitoring of four assemblies and one-dimensional computer modeling.
The following report is an excerpt from the 2008 Building Science Corporation Industry Team Building America Annual Report. This summary includes whole-house performance and systems engineering, construction support, source energy savings and quality control requirements and integration.
Concentrations of 54 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ventilation rates were measured in four new manufactured houses over 2-to-9.5 months following installation and in seven new site-built houses 1-to-2 months after completion. The houses were in four projects located in hot-humid and mixed-humid climates. They were finished and operational, but unoccupied.
Twelve affordable, healthy, environmentally responsible single family houses were designed and built on an urban infill in Dallas, Texas.
Ventilation air change rate, local mean age-of-air, and interzonal ventilation air distribution were measured for two single-family homes and eight ventilation systems.
The overall goal of the DOE residential research program is to reduce average whole house energy use in new residential buildings by 30-90 percent by 2020, including homes that achieve zero net energy use on an annual basis. High performance space conditioning and control systems that match the high performance of Building America enclosures are necessary to meet performance targets. Conditioning systems with integrated mechanical ventilation and year-around temperature and humidity control are necessary. The most significant climate-specific need is for system-integrated dehumidification for humidity control without overcooling the space. Cost-effective dehumidification without overcooling will enable continued and further reduction of sensible loads (including high-performance glazing) that would otherwise exacerbate humidity control problems in humid climates.
Side-by-side energy testing and monitoring was conducted on two houses in Louisville, KY.
