External Links

Contains external links

Durisol Wall Form System: www.durisol.com
Roxul CavityRock®: www.roxul.com
Building Science Corporation (www.buildingscience.com): The Building Science Corporation publishes many resources on their website. Look at their 'Technical Resources' section and the FAQs.
Water Management Guide. Lstiburek (Building Science Press): This guide presents a variety of recommendations for minimizing water intrusion into homes, addressing water in the liquid form — rain water and ground water.
Builder's Guide to Cold Climates: The Cold Climate edition of the Builder’s Guide provides the building industry with the latest and best practical information on how to apply building science principles to structures as systems in colder regions.
Builder's Guide to Hot-Humid Climates: The Hot-Humid edition of the Builder’s Guide provides the building industry with the latest and best practical information on how to apply building science principles to structures as systems in hot-humid climate regions.
Builder's Guide to Hot-Dry/Mixed-Dry Climates: The Hot-Dry/Mixed-Dry edition of the Builder’s Guide provides the building industry with the latest and best practical information on how to apply building science principles to structures as systems.
Builder's Guide to Mixed-Humid Climates: The Mixed-Humid edition of the Builder’s Guide provides the building industry with the latest and best practical information on how to apply building science principles to structures as systems in mixed-humid climate regions.
Builder's Guide to Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) for all climates
Building Science for Building Enclosures: This advanced text is intended for the building professions: the engineer, architect or technical specialist involved in the design, construction, operation, maintenance, repair and renovation of buildings.
Moisture Control Handbook: Moisture control is essential to designing energy efficient, healthy buildings. Uncontrolled moisture in a building envelope rapidly degrades structural materials and insulation.
Understanding Psychrometrics: Psychrometrics serves as a lifetime reference manual and a basic refresher cours for those who use psychrometrics on a recurring basis and provides a 4-to-6-hour complete psychrometrics learning module.
Ventilation Guide: This guide presents a variety of recommendations for improving indoor air quality in residential buildings through controlled mechanical ventilation.
Insulating Guide: The Insulating Guide provides builders and contractors with a variety of proven techniques for properly insulating a home.
Building Science Seminars: These advanced two-day seminars about optimizing building performance include designing buildings that perform as they should: efficiently and without assemblies that spall, decay, corrode, peel, blister, mold, condense water, leak air and water and otherwise annoy occupants, clients and authorities with jurisdiction.
Building Greensburg: The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Program is reeingineering the American home for energy efficiency and affordability. This industry-led, cost-shared partnership program uses a systems engineering approach to reduce energy use, utility bills, construction time, and construction waste.
Building America: Building America is a private/public partnership that develops energy solutions for new and existing homes. It combines the knowledge and resources of industry leaders with the U.S. Department of Energy’s technical capabilities and together they act as a catalyst for change in the home building industry.
Building America Best Practices Guides: Volumes 1 through 5 include best practices for hot-humid, hot-dry and mixed-dry, cold, mixed-humid and marine climates. Volume 6 includes high-performance home technologies: solar thermal and photovoltaic systems.
Advanced Energy Corporation: Advanced Energy creates economic, environmental and social benefits through innovative and market-based approaches to energy issues.
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy: ACEEE is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting both economic prosperity and environmental protection.
American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers: ASHRAE advances technology to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world. Membership is open to any person associated with the field.
Near-Zero Is Goal of Some Home Builders: High energy costs have fueled an interest in near-zero energy homes, and while their first cost might still be excessive, consumers are letting builders know that better efficiency and lower fuel bills are on their minds.
Building Knowledge Inc.: BKI is an industry-leading company dedicated to providing assistance and information needed to design, build and sell better homes.
The Energy & Environmental Building Association (EEBA)™: Provides education and resources to transform the residential design and construction industry to profitably deliver energy efficient and environmentally responsible buildings and communities.
Florida Solar Energy Center: As the state of Florida’s energy research institute, FSEC conducts research in building science, photovoltaics, solar thermal, hydrogen and alternative fuels, fuel cells and other advanced energy technologies.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory: NREL is the nation’s primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. They are focused on advancing the U.S. Department of Energy’s and our nations’ energy goals.
Residential Energy Services Network: RESNET is a non-profit organization dedicated to the success of the building energy performance certification industry, set the standards of quality, and increase the opportunity for ownership of high performance buildings.
Rocky Mountain Institute: RMI is an independent, non-profit organization fostering the efficient and restorative use of resources to make the world secure, just, prosperous, and life-sustaining.
Southface Energy Institute: Southface is a non-profit that promotes sustainable homes, workplaces and communities through education, research, advocacy and technical assistance.
U.S. EPA Energy Star Building Programs: Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.
H2NØ: Mechanical Systems and Moisture Control: H2NØ is a book written by Andy Ask about HVAC-Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning with an emphasis on moisture control-how mechanical systems might help or hinder keeping buildings dry. This page gives more information about the book. H2NØ is available from www.buildingsciencepress.com.
A Better Way to Rate Green Buildings: In this paper, Henry Gifford, of Gifford Fuel Saving Inc., asks "LEED sets the standard for green buildings, but do green buildings actually save any energy?"
Henry Gifford - EnergySavingScience.com: A personal website for Henry Gifford with technical information on building energy efficiency, information on his speaking schedule, and details of other projects.
Designing Low Energy Buildings: Tools, Techniques and Technologies Seminar: In this one-day seminar, John Straube will examine challenging techniques for heating, cooling and ventilation low energy buildings, including: natural ventilation, radiant heating and cooling, and passive design approaches for commercial and advanced residential building enclosures.
Joseph Lstiburek: Figuring Stuff Out Seminar: In a one-day seminar, Joseph Lstiburek will provide an entertaining and provocative examination of building investigation approaches based on a lifetime of experience..."stuff you don’t find in books." A client has a problem. The client wants to hire you to figure it out. Where do you start?
Building Science Fundamentals Seminar: Building Science Fundamentals is a two-day seminar that teaches the basic knowledge needed to design and build durable, energy efficient, affordable and healthy buildings. Dr. Joseph Lstiburek and Dr. John Straube will discuss building science principles (such as the control of heat, air and moisture and IAQ) and show you how to apply them to low-energy enclosure design, advanced HVAC systems, forensic investigations, and the repair and retrofit of existing buildings.
Housebuilder's Update: The Passive House: thoughts and reflections: Mark Brinkley discusses houses in the UK and Germany built to the PassivHaus standard.
Renovation and Rehabilitation Seminar: You have a row house, you have a walk up, you have a mess and you want to fix it. How do you keep the rain out of it? How do you make it energy efficient, not violate the building code and not irritate your contractor and the owner? How do you not screw up the historic significance if there is any? What about apartments? What about frame houses? How do you deal with brick and masonry basement foundations from the inside? What are sacrificial mortars and renderings? Should I worry about freeze-thaw damage when I insulate on the interior? How do I insulate on the exterior of a mass wall assembly? More questions - and more answers from a building science guru - Professor Joseph Lstiburek (yes, his old alma matter took him back).
WUFI 1 Seminar: The hygrothermal simulation program, WUFI, was developed over 15 years ago, and has been used in North America for more than a decade. It sets the standard for powerful yet easy-to-use models. Like all models, the quality of the output is dependent on the input: Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO). This class will review the building physics basics that underpin WUFI, providing more insight into its capabilities and limitations. The class will together develop simple wall systems and then will analyze the need for vapor barriers, the risk of solar-driven inward vapor drive, and the drying of construction moisture. WUFI 1 is a prerequisite for WUFI 2.
WUFI 2 Seminar: Designed for current users who want to take it to the next level, this class will enhance the quality and speed of your WUFI results. We will look at tips and tricks to expand the usefulness and accuracy WUFI. Advanced examples will be worked though in class and methods of generating custom material properties, sources for modifying weather data, and internal climate models will be discussed. Several examples of field validation exercises will be presented in walls and roofs, including the impact of ventilation, air leakage condensation, 2D work-arounds, etc. WUFI 1 is a prerequisite for WUFI 2.
Low Energy Cold Climate Commercial Institutional Buildings Seminar: Institutional Commercial and Industrial (ICI) buildings consume about 1/5 of all energy. The codes and standards that apply to ICI are not very demanding and the energy costs and emissions required to operate these buildings is rising. Customers, municipalities, and codes have taken notice and are ratcheting up the energy efficiency requirements. The good news is that energy consumption of many offices, schools, libraries, etc can be slashed by 50% with little to no change in capital cost. This performance can be achieved by selecting the proper building enclosure (especially details that solve thermal bridging and air leakage), and dealing with lighting controls and daylighting properly. The resulting low load building can now be inexpensively, simply (no Building Automation System!), and efficiently be conditioned. The course will begin with setting performance metrics and targets, and then proceed through examples of enclosures (walls, roofs, windows, slabs), heating, cooling and ventilation systems, with the aid of numerous cold climate success stories (and a few failures).
HVAC for Architects (and everyone else) Seminar: How do you heat, cool, dehumidify and ventilate a building? What systems make sense and don't make sense? What do VAV, CAV, HRV, ERV, DX, and other common acronyms mean? Are Ground Source Heat Pumps as bad as the measured results show or is it just bad engineering and miselading marketing ("goethermal" without geysers)? How can an architect tell? Are DOAS (direct outdoor air supply) systems as good as engineers claim? Is underfloor air distribution (UFAD) a scam or a FAD? Do you pressurize or do you depressurize? When and why can small distributed systems be cheaper and more efficient than central systems? You might be surprised that pressurization sucks. What engineers don't tell you and what you need to tell your engineer? Questions, questions and more questions. And a whole bunch of answers from one of the superstars of building science - an architect's engineer - Professor John Straube. The full range of HVAC - small buildings to high rises, commercial buildings to institutional buildings.
Building Science Experts' Session Seminar: Building Science Experts' Session is a two-day seminar that focuses on advanced building science topics. This session is intended to provide thought provoking professional development for experienced building industry professionals who are interested in healthy, durable and energy efficient new and old buildings.
High Performance Enclosures: High Performance Enclosures: Design Guide for Institutional, Commercial and Industrial Buildings in Cold Climates provides guidance for architects and building enclosure engineers working to meet the growing need for buildings that have significantly lower operational energy consumption. John Straube addresses a range of practical questions about low energy building enclosures that save energy while simultaneously improving durability, comfort, and rain contol: How much of an impact can the enclosure, massing, and orientation have? How much glazing is appropriate and what options are available? How much does thermal bridging matter and how can it be minimized at difficult structural details? How does one detail thick layers of continuous insulation outside of steel sud walls? Can layers of insulating sheathing reduce the risk of moisure damage?
Oliver Lofts
Canal Lofts
Wampanoag Mill
Castle Square Apartments
Kansas Children's Discovery Center
Wall Panel System Evaluation
Historic New England Lang Building
Historic New England Projects
Wellesley College Founders Hall
Apartment Building Water Intrusion
Hospital Building Water Intrusion
Multi-Tenant Retail Building
Private Residence Water Intrusion
Health Care Center
Indoor Pool Enclosure
Window Frame Decay
Tile Floor Failure
Westford Symposium 2011: The Coquitlam Experience
Presentations by Building Science Corporation: This link will take you to the Recent Presentations section of the Building Science Consulting website where you can scroll through the list of presentations by year.
Windows and Occupant Comfort: Presentation from the EEBA Building Solutions Conference 2003
Special Topics on Residential HVAC: Presentation from the EEBA Excellence in Building Conference 2002
Building Science for Architects: Thermal and Air Leakage Control: Presentation from Build Boston 2005
Practical Approaches to Residential Ventilation for Improved Durability and Indoor Air Quality: Presentation from the Durability and Disaster Mitigation in Wood-Frame Housing Conference 2000
Mold in Publicly Funded Housing Developments: Presentation from BETEC: Bugs, Mold and Rot III in 1999
House and Barn Renovation: Presentation
Time-Based Scheduling of Residential Ventilation: Presentation EEBA Excellence in Building Conference 2000
An Advanced Systems Engineering Approach to Affordable Single Family Homes: Presentation from the EEBA Excellence in Building Conference 2000
HVAC Equipment Sizing Strategies: Taking Advantage of High-Performance Buildings: Presentation from the EEBA Excellence in Building Conference 2001
Placement of Ducts and HVAC Systems in Conditioned Space: An Overview: Presentation from the EEBA Excellence in Building Conference 2001
Sizing and Startup Procedures for Cooling Systems: Presentation from the EEBA Excellence in Building Conference 2001
Building America Pilot Program: GREEN: Presentation for Building America
Dehumidification Systems Research Results: Presentation from the EEBA Excellence in Building Conference 2002
Roof and Attic Ventilation Issues in Hot-Humid Climates: Presentation from the South Florida Building Official Association
Details for Avoidance of Mold—Foundations: Presentation from PACNY Environmental Conference
Renovating Existing Basements: Presentation from PACNY Environmental Conference
Conditioned Crawlspace: Presentation from PACNY Environmental Conference
Slabs: Presentation from PACNY Environmental Conference
Affordable Housing Toward Zero Energy: Presentation from the EEBA Excellence in Building Conference 2005
Integrating Systems for Green Design: Presentation from the EEBA Excellence in Building Conference
Understanding Green Homes & Durability: The Building America Systems Integration Approach: Presentation from the EEBA Excellence in Building Conference 2005
Building Science for Architects: Moisture Control: Presentation from Build Boston 2005
Building Science for Architects: Choosing Heating and Cooling Systems: Presentation from the Build Boston 2005
Building Science for Architects: Well Ventilated Buildings and Ventilation Systems: Presentation from the Build Boston 2005
Putting It All Together: Design Specifications for High Performance Homes: Presentation from the Build Boston 2005
Slabs, Crawlspaces, Basements and Below Grade Spaces: Avoiding Mold: Presentation from the Build Boston 2005
Wall System Options: Presentation from the Build Boston 2005
We Build the Attic, Why Not Live There?: Presentation from the Build Boston 2005
Building Science Corporation and Building America: Building Science Corporation's work with the Building America Program
Building Science Corporation and Building Science: Building Science Corporation's building science consulting services
Building Science Corporation and Architecture: Building Science Corporation's architectural services
Building Science Corporation and Building Performance: Building Science Corporation's building performance consulting services
Advanced WUFI
Building Science Corporation's Education and Training Services: Building Science Corporation's education and training services
Building Science Corporation's Research, Development and Demonstration Services: Building Science Corporation's research, development and demonstration services
United States Military Academy NZE Master Plan: Building enclosure and energy performance consultant
Mallett House Retrofit: Building enclosure consultant