Reports

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RR-9301: Phase-Change Material Wallboard for Distributed Thermal Storage in Buildings

Development and testing were conducted for a prototype phase-change material (PCM) wallboard to enhance the thermal energy storage capacity of buildings with particular interest in peak load shifting.

RR-9901: Air Distribution Fan and Outside Air Damper Recycling Control

Energy efficient homes are inherently airtight and require ventilation for acceptable indoor air quality. Recognizing this fact, two building code jurisdictions, the federal department of Housing and Urban Development and the State of Washington, require mechanical ventilation for homes.

RR-9401: Development of Moisture Storage Coatings for Enthalpy Storage Wallboard

Two moisture-storage coating mixtures developed and tested between late 1990 and early 1991 could provide a low-cost, building-integrated method of managing indoor humidity in hot and humid climates.

RR-9801: Vented and Sealed Attics in Hot Climates

Sealed attic construction, by excluding vents to the exterior, can be a good way to exclude moisture-laden outside air from attic and may offer a more easily constructed alternative for air leakage control at the top of residential buildings.

RR-9905: Air Pressure and Building Envelopes

Understanding the significance of the complex flow and pressure distribution problems created by the interaction of the building envelope with the mechanical system and climate can lead to changes in building design, commissioning, operations, maintenance, diagnostics and rehabilitation.

RR-9402: Establishing Priorities for the Design of Affordable, Environmentally Responsible Housing in Dallas, Texas, a Mixed Climate Zone

Twelve affordable, healthy, environmentally responsible single family houses were designed and built on an urban infill in Dallas, Texas.

RR-0401: Conditioned Crawlspace Construction, Performance and Codes

This paper discusses the differences between vented, unvented and conditioned crawl spaces. Best practice construction techniques and assemblies for conditioned crawl spaces are discussed, the results of a field monitoring program are presented, and the code language addressing crawl spaces is explained.

RR-9902: Mold Control in Publicly Funded Housing Developments

This presentation examines health related building problems in public housing.

RR-9907: Measured Air Change Rates and Distribution Ventilation Air in a Single Family Home

A single-story, single-family, 1350 sq. ft. house located in Las Vegas, NV was outfitted with two separate ventilation systems. The systems were independent of each other, and were operated at different times to evaluate the relative difference in air change rate and distribution of ventilation air induced by their operation.

RR-0301: Unvented Roof Summary Article

This article was written to tie together and summarize the various papers on unvented conditioned cathedralized attics found on our website.

RR-0402: Singing the "blues" in the key of "low-e"

High performance compact fluorescent lighting (CFLs) is not just about energy savings; it’s also about the other aspects of performance such as color rendering.

RR-0405: Community-Scale Evaluation Results

Using four Building Science Consortium Building America community-scale projects, this paper investigates the nature, strength, and durability of connections between high performance dwellings and developments.

RR-0601: Analysis of Indoor Environmental Data

This report summarizes indoor temperature and humidity data that have been collected from houses by the Building Science Consortium of the US Department of Energy Building America Program.

RR-0505: Residential Dehumidification Systems Research for Hot-Humid Climates

Twenty homes were tested and monitored in the hot-humid climate of Houston, Texas, to evaluate the humidity control performance and operating cost of six different integrated dehumidification and ventilation systems that could be applied by production homebuilders.

RR-9302: Humidity Control in the Humid South

Humidity concerns in the southern humid climates are particularly difficult to resolve. This is because one of the most effective approaches to dealing with humidity in heating climates, ventilation, can cause major humidity problems in the humid south.

RR-0203: Relative Humidity

What relative humidity should I have in my home? Seems like a simple enough question. However, the answer can sometimes be difficult to understand.

RR-9701: Measurement of Attic Temperatures and Cooling Energy Use in Vented and Sealed Attics in Las Vegas, Nevada

Traditionally, building codes have required that attics of residential buildings be vented. The ventilation requirement varies between one square foot of net free ventilation area per 300 square feet of attic floor area (1:300) to one square foot per 150 square feet (1:150).

RR-9802: Performance of Building America Initiative Houses with Unvented Attics and Tile Roofs Constructed by Pulte Homes, Las Vegas Division

A residential attic model, contained in the finite element computer program FSEC 3.0, was empirically aligned with measured attic data from three roof research facilities in Florida and Illinois.

RR-0702: Monitored Indoor Moisture and Temperature Conditions in Hot-Humid US Residences

Indoor moisture and temperature conditions and equipment operation were measured and analyzed for 43 homes in warm-humid and mixed-humid climate regions of the United States.

RR-0404: Roof Design

Roofs can be designed and constructed to be either vented or unvented in any hygrothermal zone. Air barrier systems are typically the most common approach, however, air pressure control approaches are becoming more common especially in cases involving remedial work on existing structures.

RR-0303: Ventilation and Air Leakage

Buildings leak water and air, which is normal and unavoidable. Therefore, designers should not fixate on preventing leakage, i.e. making buildings “airtight.” Because even if all cracks were sealed, buildings have doors and windows.

RR-9904: Unvented-cathedralized attics: Where we've been and where we're going

Current work is focusing on the performance and durability of unvented-cathedralized attics in hot-humid climates with both tile and asphalt shingle roofing.

RR-9908: Design Methodology and Economic Evaluation of Central-Fan-Integrated Supply Ventilation Systems

Residential ventilation systems can be categorized as supply, exhaust, or balanced systems. This effort focused on establishing a design methodology for central-fan-integrated supply ventilation systems.

RR-0005: Transfer Grille Sizing

Sizing information excerpted from “RR-0006: Discussion of the Use of Transfer Grilles to Facilitate Air Flow in Central Return Systems.”

RR-9912: Discussion of Ventilation System Energy Performance and Cost

An hourly simulation study using DOE2.1E was conducted to determine the annual difference in energy consumption between various ventilation options in different climates.

RR-0001: Measurement of Ventilation and Interzonal Distribution in Single-Family Homes

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.

RR-0003: An Advanced Systems Engineering Approach to Affordable Single Family Homes

This presentation examines the integrated system concepts of advanced framing, air flow retarder system, thermal envelope system, air distribution system and mechanical systems.

RR-0302: Roof and Attic Ventilation Issues in Hot-Humid Climates

A presentation examining the requirement for roof/attic venting in hot-humid climates.

RR-0002: Practical Approaches to Residential Ventilation for Improved Durability and Indoor Air Quality

This presentation examines how to provide durability for little or no incremental cost, as a goal of the Building America program.

RR-0701: Whole House Ventilation Systems Options—Phase 1 Simulation Study

A comprehensive literature review was made to investigate whole house ventilation system options, various simulation and engineering analysis tools and techniques, and baselines for comparing the current project results.

RR-0206: Foundations—Moisture Resistant Construction

Builders for many years have put mechanical equipment and ducts in non-living spaces such as crawlspaces and attics primarily to save valuable floor space.

RR-0103: Water Management

This is a concise overview of the principles and steps to follow when dealing with water from the foundation to the roof.

RR-9911: Heating Choices

Based on Building America experience, this report is about selecting furnaces, water heaters, both or sometimes just one to accomplish both space heating and domestic hot water.

RR-0204: Practical and Effective Approaches to Residential Ventilation for Production Builders

This presentation examines durability with respect to moisture, and how mechanical ventilation can be used to control it.

RR-0403: Air Barriers

Air barriers are systems of materials used to control airflow in building enclosures. They typically completely enclose the air within a building.

RR-0408: The deKieffer Bypass

Construction practices have improved and the HVAC systems need to improve with them. The deKieffer Bypass relieves air pressure in rooms without compromising sound or light transmission.

RR-0304: Central Fan Integrated Supply Ventilation—The Basics

The simplest, most effective, and most economical way to introduce fresh air in homes with central forced air systems is to use the central fan to pull in and distribute a controlled amount of outside air.

RR-0407: Installing a Window with Building Paper on OSB over Wood Frame Wall

Details on how to install a window using building paper as the drainage plane.

RR-0107: Drywall, Wood and Truss Uplift

Wood moves. Drywall does not move. Interesting problem. The more you attach drywall to wood, the more cracks you have. Easy, attach the drywall to less wood, and, in a way, that allows the wood to move.

RR-9909: Drainage Planes and Air Spaces

Every exterior cladding system needs an air space and drainage plane for performance and durability. This article presents the right materials and spaces for most exterior claddings—brick, stucco, and wood, metal and vinyl lap siding.

RR-0004: Air Barriers vs. Vapor Barriers

Most of us are not aware of just how differently these two barriers work in building assemblies. This article makes the differences as clear as the polyethylene film that should (or more likely should NOT) be in your walls.

RR-0202: Basement Insulation Systems

Heat loss from basements accounts for a significant portion of the energy loss from a home. In many jurisdictions, basement insulation is a building code requirement. Cost usually determines the type of insulation system used.

RR-0201: Advanced Framing—Using Wood Efficiently From Optimizing Design to Minimizing the Dumpster

Americans have been building homes with wood—shaping logs, joining timbers, nailing studs—for almost 400 years. Our current approach, stick framing, grew poplular in the mid-1800's because it too less skill, required simpler tools, and took fewer people than timber framing. We apparently really like waste haulers, too.

RR-0209: Mold Testing

Although this article is titled "Mold Testing" it actually tells you why testing for mold is usually not needed.

RR-0105: Brick, Stucco, Housewrap and Building Paper

The manufacturers of housewraps have for years promoted the fantasy that water vapor in wall assemblies only moves one way – from the inside out.

RR-0106: Problems with Housewraps

The primary function of a housewrap or building paper is rain penetration control. It is not air infiltration despite what the manufacturers say.

RR-0305: Why It's So Important (and Troubling) to Keep Ducts and Equipment in Conditioned Space

Perhaps the single most challenging BSC performance for Building America production homebuilders is that all ducts and HVAC equipment must be within the conditioned space (this means no ducts in outside walls and no ducts or air handlers in garages, vented attics or vented crawlspaces).

RR-0007: Advanced Space Conditioning

Everything you ever wanted to know about HVAC for homes-thermal comfort, air distribution, nature of and dealing with contaminants, HVAC strategies, and climate-appropriate graphics to boot.

RR-0307: Windows and Occupant Comfort

The presentation was first presented at 2003 EEBA Building Solutions.

RR-0211: Mold—Causes, Health Effects and Clean-up

This article briefly repeats some of the information in the other mold articles but also includes information on how to prevent mold in residential structures.

RR-0006: Discussion of the Use of Transfer Grilles to Facilitate Return Air Flow in Central Return Systems

Transfer grilles represent a cost-effective alternative to individual return ducts if they are properly configured for air flow, privacy, and aesthetics.

RR-0205: Moisture Control for Buildings

When designing a building’s envelope and its interaction with the mechanical system, temperature, humidity, rain and the interior climate often are ignored.

RR-9001: Description of an Indoor Test Facility for Evaluating a Roof Integrated Cooling Concept

An advanced roof test facility has been designed, constructed, debugged and made operational at the Florida Solar Energy Center. The facility operational at the Diurnal Test Facility and was designed to provide high quality data which could be used for verification and improvement of the analytical model of the desiccant enhanced radiant cooling (DESRAD) concept

RR-0308: The How and Why of Your High Performance HVAC System

A concise explanation of how a high performance HVAC system works in a high performance home.

RR-0504: Integrating Systems for Green Design

The effects of building development on the environment are at the most basic level about durability. Building a house or community is really about the durability of people, the durability of buildings, and the durability of the planet.

RR-0309: Renovating Your Basement

Heat loss through uninsulated basement walls can account for up to one-third of the heat loss from an average home. Installing insulation on basement walls is often inexpensive, easy to accomplish and frequently combined with “finishing the basement.”

RR-9404: Measured and Predicted Energy Savings from an Industrialized House

Side-by-side energy testing and monitoring was conducted on two houses in Louisville, KY.

RR-0409: Painting

Exposure to sunlight (ultraviolet radiation) and moisture are the major factors affecting the durability of paint coatings and the durability of the substrate.

RR-0213: Combo Space/Water Heating Systems—"Duo Diligence"

Combo systems use a gas water heater to provide domestic water and space heating. Find out when its appropriate to use such a system and guidelines for doing it right.

RR-0212: PV Primer

PV systems have come a long way in the last two decades. While they may not work for all homes, residential installations are becoming a practical reality under more and more conditions

RR-0214: Conditioning Air in the Humid South—Creating Comfort and Controlling Cost

An examination of five different systems that show how to cool and dehumidify inside air while maintaining sufficient introduction of outside air for ventilation efficiently and cost-effectively.

RR-9914: House and Barn Renovation

This presentation reviews the criteria for durable, sustainable and affordable home renovation.

RR-0412: Insulations, Sheathings and Vapor Retarders

Two seemingly innocuous requirements for building enclosure assemblies bedevil builders and designers almost endlessly: keep water vapor out, let the water vapor out if it gets in

RR-0507: Affordable Housing—Toward Zero Energy

A presentation discussing zero energy homes, affordable housing and the available technologies to reach zero energy.

RR-0508: Understanding Green Homes & Durability

Presentation discussing the systems integration approach to energy efficient, durable, sustainable homes.

RR-0410: Vapor Barriers and Wall Design

Good design and practice involve controlling the wetting of building assemblies from both the exterior and interior and different climates require different approaches.

RR-0008: Time-Based Scheduling of Residential Ventilation

This presentation was first presented at the 2000 EEBA Conference Building for Peak Performance.

RR-0210: Mold Remediation in Occupied Homes

This article provides both general guidelines for mold remediation as well as specific guidelines for the typical locations where mold is most often found in houses.

RR-0109: Sizing and Startup Procedures for Cooling Systems

High performance building envelopes deserve high performance comfort conditioning systems. Especially for refrigerant based cooling systems, proper sizing and startup procedures are critical.

RR-0208: What You Need to Know About Mold

This article answers your questions about mold, what it is, where it grows, how it spreads, how can I prevent it.

RR-0306: Unvented Roofs, Hot-Humid Climates, and Asphalt Roofing Shingles

When constructing unvented roofs with asphalt shingles in hot-humid climates, a vapor barrier must be installed between the asphalt shingles and the roof deck.

RR-9906: Air Handler Leakage Testing: Sierra Air Conditioning, La Vegas, Nevada

Duct leakage is a concern in the HVAC field, due to energy consumption, pressure balance problems, bypassing of the filter by leakage air, and contaminant draw from unconditioned spaces

RR-0111: Placement of Ducts and HVAC Systems in Conditioned Space: An Overview

A discussion of the placement of ducts and HVAC equipment inside the conditioned space.

RR-0216: Special Topics on Residential HVAC

Discussion of cyclical trade-offs between building envelope improvements, reduced system size, and more efficient systems.

RR-0108: Unvented Roof Systems

Unvented roof systems can be safely used in many different climates. In cold climates, insulating sheathing must be added exterior to the roof sheathing to prevent condensation on the underside of the roof sheathing.

RR-0217: Building America Pilot Program—Guaranteed Resource- and Energy-Efficiency Now

A performance-based industry collaborative program in which energy, water, and maintenance guarantees can be translated into home buyer savings. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Program, a partnership was developed with a builder who had learned from experience that just building to code left a lot to be desired from an overall performance perspective. He came to believe that real value lies in implementing building science principals within a systems engineering approach to high-performance housing.

RR-0801: Towards Sustainability—Green Building, Sustainability Objectives, and Building America Whole House Systems Research

This paper discusses Building America whole house systems research within the broad effort to reduce or eliminate the environmental impact of building and provides specific recommendations for future Building America research based on Building Science Corporation’s experience with several recent projects involving green home building programs.

RR-0110: HVAC Equipment Sizing Strategies: Taking Advantage of High-Performance Buildings

If you are going to fine-tune your building enclosure, fine-tuning your HVAC system becomes even more important. This presentation covers everything you need to know to right-size your HVAC for better performance, fewer callbacks, and happier customers.

RR-0215: Dehumidification Systems Research Results

Moisture is the number one enemy of the durability of a house. Installing controlled mechanical supply ventilation systems, and dehumidification separate from cooling for humid climates is one of the ways to insure durability with respect to moisture.

RR-0413b: SNAPSHOT Form

This is a test form used in the Building America program to ascertain house performance and specifications.

RR-0802: Field Test of Room-to-Room Distribution of Outside Air with Two Residential Ventilation Systems

Uniform distribution of outside air is one way to ensure that residential dilution ventilation systems will provide a known amount of fresh air to all rooms regardless of house geometry and occupant behavior.

RR-0411: Vent on Venting

Just about everyone in the building industry can be guilty of using building terms loosely, and a prime example is with attics, roof assemblies.

RR-0901: Thermal Metrics for High Performance Walls—The Limitations of R-Value

This document summarizes the theory behind thermal insulation and building system heat flow control metrics and presents a literature review of selected research into this area.

RR-0104: Solar Driven Moisture in Brick Veneer

Brick is a reservoir cladding, meaning that it absorbs and stores water (rain) when it becomes wet. In some homes, with brick veneer cladding systems, mold contamination has occurred within exterior wall cavities. In some homes, wood decay at bottom plates has also occurred.

RR-0903: Building America Special Research Project—High-R Walls Case Study Analysis

This report considers a number of promising wall systems that can meet the requirement for better thermal control. Unlike previous studies, this one considers performance in a more realistic matter, including some true three-dimensional heat flow and the relative risk of moisture damage.

RR-9913: Case Studies in Resource-Efficient Residential Buildings: The Building America Program

Building America is a program of the U.S. Department of Energy, in which teams of architects, engineers, builders, equipment manufacturers, and others collaborate in a systems engineering approach to produce homes that use up to 50 percent less energy to operate.

RR-0413a: The Snapshot—A Quick Description

SNAPSHOT stands for Short, Non-destructive Approach to Provide Significant House Operation Thresholds.

RR-0503: Rainwater Management Performance of Newly Constructed Residential Building Enclosures

A performance review of residential assemblies in the central Florida (Orlando) area during the three hurricanes in August and September 2004.

RR-9910: Wood Durability

The general principle of building durability has two components: buildings should be suited to their environment and the laws of physics must be followed. We tend to ignore the first and find the second inconvenient.

RR-0602: Field Test of Room-to-Room Uniformity of Ventilation Air Distribution in Two New Houses

In order for dilution ventilation systems to provide predictable results independent of the geometry of individual homes, outside air must be uniformly distributed throughout the house

RR-0704: Building a Durable and Energy Efficient Home in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Given what happened in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina, changes in the way we build are needed. Looking to key sustainability concepts of durability and energy efficiency, new flood resistant design concepts were developed.

RR-0703: Introducing the market to high-performance building on Hilton Head Island

Primarily as a resort location, Hilton Head Island has a somewhat different residential housing market than other more traditional areas.

RR-0904: Adhered Veneers and Inward Vapor Drives: Significance, Problems, and Solutions

This paper reports on field measurements collected from over a year of monitoring two types of wood-framed walls: one with an air gap membrane and another installed following standard practice. Each type of wall was faced either north or south in a test hut located in southwestern Ontario.

RR-0603: Impact Resistance of Advanced Framed Wall Systems with Insulating Sheathing as the Primary Sheathing

Advanced framed wall systems that use a stud spacing of 24 inches on center and eliminate the plywood or OSB sheathing from the wall and replace it with insulating sheathing is a type of enclosure assembly that has been designed to be energy efficient combined with efficient material use.

RR-0906: Field Monitoring and Hygrothermal Modeling of Interior Basement Insulation Systems

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.

RR-0803: Volatile Organic Compound Concentrations and Emission Rates in New Manufactured and Site-Built Houses

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.

RR-0406: Face Sealed vs. Drainable EIFS

Exterior insulation and finishing systems (EIFS) are inherently defective and unfit of use as an exterior cladding system where moisture sensitive components are used without a provision for drainage or in locations and assemblies without adequate drying.

RR-1001: Moisture-Safe Unvented Wood Roof Systems

This paper describes a hygrothermal modeling study, including all of the US climate zones, a range of interior humidity levels and numerous arrangements and types of insulation. The results showed that so long as airtightness is provided, and wintertime humidity is controlled, numerous unvented solutions using either or both spray foam (open and closed cell) and fibrous insulation (cellulose and mineral fiber) can be successful. Climate, the solar properties and exposure of the roofing, the air and vapor permeance of the insulation (s) and interior humidity are the most important factors to be considered in the design of moisture-safe unvented roof systems.

RR-0908: A Method for Modifying Ventilation Airflow Rates to Achieve Equivalent Occupant Exposure

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.

RR-0804: Plans For Energy Efficiency Homes in Greensburg, KS

This report is an excerpt from the 2008 Building America Annual Report. Following the almost complete destruction of Greensburg, Kansas by a tornado in May, 2007, Building Science Corporation (BSC) was contracted to provide example house plans, support for the reconstruction of energy efficient houses and training for builders and trades. This report describes the results of BSC’s work to construct more than 20 energy efficient, affordable, durable houses in Greensburg, Kansas.

RR-0905: Modeled and Measured Drainage, Storage and Drying Behind Cladding Systems

This paper documents the experimental methodology, details, and results and discuss how this information can be applied to modeling drained wall systems. Practical applications and research questions arising from the work are presented.

RR-0811: Community Scale Evaluation—Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell Westford House

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.

RR-0909: A Calibrated Multi-Zone Airflow Model for Extension of Ventilation System Tracer Gas Testing

The software CONTAM was used to create a calibrated mulit-zone model to replicate in-field tracer gas decay measurements of a new two story, 2,600 sq. ft., single-family house in Sacramento, CA under different whole-house dilution ventilation scenarios. 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.

RR-1006: Building America Special Research Project—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.

RR-0910: Measuring the Impact of Interior Insulation on Solid Masonry Walls in a Cold Climate

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.

RR-0907: Ventilated Wall Claddings: Review, Field Performance, and Hygrothermal Modeling

The balance between wetting, drying, and safe storage is critical to the long term performance of building enclosures. Where wetting cannot be controlled to acceptable levels, safe storage and drying become critical.

RR-1003: Building America Special Research Project—High-R Foundations Case Study Analysis

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 are improving to require higher levels of thermal control than ever before for new construction. This report considers a number of promising foundation and basement insulation strategies that can meet the requirement for better thermal control in colder climates while enhancing moisture control, health, and comfort.

RR-1002: Preliminary Modeling, Testing and Analysis of a Gas Tankless Water Heater

Tankless water heaters offer significant energy savings over conventional storage-tank water heaters, because thermal losses to the environment are much less. Although standard test results are available to compare tankless heaters with storage tank heaters, actual savings depend on the draw details because energy to heat up the internal mass depends on the time since the last draw. To allow accurate efficiency estimates under any assumed draw pattern, a one-node model with heat exchanger mass is posed here. Key model parameters were determined from test data. Burner efficiency showed inconsistency between the two data sets analyzed. Model calculations show that efficiency with a realistic draw pattern is ~8% lower than that resulting from using only large ~40 liter draws, as specified in standard water-heater tests. The model is also used to indicate that adding a small tank controlled by the tankless heater ameliorates unacceptable oscillations that tankless with feedback control can experience with pre-heated water too hot for the minimum burner setting. The added tank also eliminates problematic low-flow cut-out and hot-water delay, but it will slightly decrease efficiency. Future work includes model refinements and developing optimal protocols for parameter extraction.

RR-1004: Building America Special Research Project—Deployment of Advanced Framing at the Community Scale

The following report is an excerpt from the 2010 Building Science Corporation Industry Team Building America Annual Report. This report investigates the implementation of advanced framing in both production and prototype built homes built in a variety of climate regions across the USA. This work is part of a large research project on High R-value enclosures. The current industry standard wall is being replaced by a 2×6 frame at 24-inch centers with single top plates, two-stud corners, no jack studs, no cripples and single headers (and in many cases no headers at all). The advanced framing system is cheaper because it uses 5% to 10% less board feet of lumber, and it is faster because it uses 30% fewer pieces. It saves energy because it provides a 60% deeper cavity (which allows 60% more cavity insulation) and because it reduces the framing factor. Advanced framing can save energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and money if properly implemented. Through BSC’s experience we have found that builders can save $1000 per house on advanced framing. To maximize cost savings and energy savings for the homeowner, the builder financial savings are best shifted to implementing more energy saving measures.

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.

RR-0912: Spray Polyurethane Foam: The Need for Vapor Retarders in Above-Grade Residential Walls

This report is available from the Canadian Urethane Foam Contractors Association (http://www.cufca.ca/home_e.php). It is reproduced here for convenience. A common question encountered by SPF applicators, building designers, and code officials is the need for an additional vapor barrier or retarder. Experience by many contractors and some consultants suggest that special low permeance layers such as polyethylene are rarely needed in many types of walls. Theory indicates that closed cell foam is sufficiently vapor impermeable to control diffusion condensation and that low-density open-cell foam applications may require additional vapor diffusion control in some extreme environments. However, the need for, and type of additional vapor control layers remains unanswered to many.

RR-1005: Building America Special Research Project: High R-Value Enclosures for High Performance Residential Buildings in 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.

RR-1007: Building America Special Research Project—Ventilation Efficiency of 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.

RR-1011: Evaluation of Cladding and Water-Resistive Barrier Performance in Hot-Humid Climates Using a Real-Weather, Real-Time Test Facility

 

RR-1009: Building America Special Research Project—Space Conditioning Systems for 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.

RR-1012: Residential Exterior Wall Superinsulation Retrofit Details and Analysis

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.

RR-1013: Assessing the Freeze-Thaw Resistance of Clay Brick for Interior Insulation Retrofit Projects

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.

RR-1008: Building America Special Research Project: 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.

RR-0604: Incorporating Insulating Sheathing into the Design of the Thermal and Moisture Management System of the Building Enclosure

With rising utility cost, concerns over availability of natural resources, and environmental impacts of our energy production and use, a push has been made to design buildings to minimize energy consumption in an attempt to work towards more sustainable communities. Creating more thermally efficient building enclosures is a necessary part of achieving this goal. The thermal resistance provided by insulating a stud cavity is limited by the standard framing sizes currently used in the United States and Canada. The options therefore are to either increase the depth of the studs used, add insulation to the interior of the wall assembly, or to add extra insulation to the exterior of the assembly. Providing rigid insulating sheathing to the exterior of a wall assembly is a technique that has been used in cold climates for more than 40 years. Recently it has begun to be integrated into enclosure designs in all climates. As with any newly adopted technology, there can be concerns for its proper application. This paper examines methods of incorporating insulating sheathing into the thermal and moisture management systems of the building enclosure in a variety of climate zones across North America. This is done through examining the material properties of the various products and how these properties can be used to achieve an energy efficient and durable building enclosure design, while avoiding problems relating moisture accumulation and degradation of materials.

RR-0805: Training Curriculum and Follow-Up Results—Greensburg, KS

This report is an excerpt from the 2008 Building America Annual Report. Following the almost complete destruction of Greensburg, Kansas by a tornado in May, 2007, Building Science Corporation (BSC) was contracted to provide example house plans, support for the reconstruction of energy efficient houses and training for builders and trades. This report describes the planning, execution, and results of BSC’s builder training program in Greensburg.

RR-0806: Tankless and Solar Hot Water Heating Integration Research

The following report is an excerpt from the 2008 Building Science Corporation Industry Team Building America Annual Report. The purpose of this research project is to design and install a solar hot water system that features a tankless water heater integrated with a solar hot water panel such that consistent temperature control can be achieved at the domestic taps.

RR-1101: The Influence of Low-Permeance Vapor Barriers on Roof and Wall Performance

Low-permeance vapor barriers are widely used on the interior of wall and roof systems in large parts of North America. Many codes and standards imply or even state that low-permeance vapor barriers should be used in all cold regions as well as many moderate climate zones. The influence of vapor barriers on the hygrothermal performance of wall and roof systems is a function of exterior climate, interior climate, solar absorptance, rainwater absorption, and the vapor and thermal resistance of all of the layers in the system. In many practical situations, a low-permeance vapor barrier will not improve hygrothermal performance and may in fact increase the likelihood of damaging condensation or trap moisture in the system. This paper will examine the role of vapor barriers on hygrothermal performance with the aid of simple and transparent diffusion calculations supported by measurements from full-scale natural exposure monitoring. The phenomenon of summertime condensation, the drying of roofs and walls, and multiple vapor barrier layers will be explored. The importance of properly assessing both the interior and exterior climate will be discussed. Vapor diffusion control strategies will be presented.

RR-1102: San Francisco Bay Area 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.

RR-0605: Assessing the Durability Impacts of Energy Efficient Enclosure Upgrades Using Hygrothermal Modeling

This paper examines methods of using hygrothermal models, primarily WUFI, to assess the impact of energy efficient enclosure upgrades on the durability of historical buildings. Means of producing and choosing input data for the hygrothermal simulation are discussed. Methods for using the hourly results from the simulations to generate a corrosion index and a freeze-thaw count are developed. An example wall is used to demonstrate the type of output that can be expected and how this can be used in making retrofit design decisions.

RR-1014: High-R Walls for the Pacific Northwest–A Hygrothermal Analysis of Various Exterior Wall Systems

This report considers a number of promising wall systems that can meet the requirement for better thermal control. Unlike previous studies, this one considers performance in a more realistic matter, including some two- and three-dimensional heat flow and analysis of the relative risk of moisture damage.

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.

RR-1104: Hygrothermal Analysis of 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.

RR-1105: Internal Insulation of 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.

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.

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.