Browse by Topic

Affordable Housing

• A Builder's Guide to Marketable Affordable Durable Entry-Level Homes to Last
  This MADE manual will provide builders with the tools necessary to market affordable housing to the entry-level buyer, successful techniques for building affordable durable housing, and methods to define home buyers' expectations and fulfill their needs both before and after the sale.
• Cost Effective Home Building: A Design and Construction Handbook
  This publication presents cost-effective methods of home building with a systematic approach to design and construction.
• EnergyValue Housing Award Guide: How to Build and Profit with Energy Efficiency in New Home Construction
  This guide is a compilation of best practices of winners of the national EnergyValue Housing Award -- which recognizes builders who voluntarily incorporate energy and resource efficiency into new home design, construction, and marketing.

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Alternative Materials

• Concrete Masonry Homes: Recommended Practices
  Focuses on the attachment or installation of foundations, floors, roofs, insulation, utilities, and finishes to concrete masonry walls as well as on special tools and fasteners available for use with concrete masonry.
• Field Demonstration of Alternative Wall Insulation Products
  The NAHB Research Center conducted a field demonstration to compare the cost and performance of spray-applied cellulose, blow-in-blankets, low-density polyurethane, and fiberglass batts in exterior walls.
• In-Plane Shear Resistance of Insulating Concrete Form Walls
  This research report presents data from tests of three types of insulating concrete form (ICF) shear walls with varying opening configurations.
• Insulating Concrete Forms: Comparative Thermal Performance
  This report, available from the NAHB Research Center Bookstore, will allow builders to better evaluate the energy savings impacts of insulating concrete forms (ICFs) and identifies many opportunities to optimize the construction of homes using this technology.
• Insulating Concrete Forms: Costs and Benefits for Residential Construction
  This report provides the necessary data and comparisons to fully understand the costs and benefits of ICF construction.
• Insulating Concrete Forms: Installed Cost and Acoustic Performance
  This report will allow builders to better evaluate the cost impacts of ICFs.
• Insulating Concrete Forms for Residential Construction: Demonstration Homes
  Builders will gain practical information based on actual experiences with Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs).
• Prescriptive Method for Insulating Concrete Forms in Residential Construction (Second Edition)
  This document provides a prescriptive method for the design, construction, and inspection of homes that take advantage of ICF technology.
• Testing and Design of Lintels Using Insulating Concrete Forms
  This report summarizes the results from the test program focusing on the structural performance of concrete lintels without shear reinforcement.

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Builder and Designer Guides

• ASCE Standard 32-01: Design and Construction of Frost-Protected Shallow Foundations
  This standard addresses the design and construction of frost-protected shallow foundations in areas subject to seasonal ground freezing.
• A Builder's Guide to Placement of Ducts and HVAC Equipment in Conditioned Spaces
  NAHB Research Center's practical guidance for builders and heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) contractors in the design and installation of conditioning systems that are placed entirely within the insulated building envelope.
• A Builder's Guide to Residential HVAC Systems
  This publication provides small- and medium-volume builders and superintendents with the information they need to effectively evaluate and specify heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
• Builders' Guide to Residential Steel Floors
  This guide provides builders, code officials, homeowners, and design professionals the necessary information required to use steel floor joists in typical residential construction.
• Durability by Design: A Guide for Residential Builders and Designers
  Mold, rot, and bugs! Oh my! In response to growing concerns with building durability, this practical guide brings the building science down to a level that can be readily understood and applied by builders and designers of modern homes.
• Environmentally Green...Economically Green: Tools for a Green Land Development Program
  Intended for local-level practitioners who want to incorporate green land development practices into their work.
• Innovative Rehabilitation Provisions: A Demonstration of the Nationally Applicable Recommended Rehabilitation Provisions
  Read about a side-by-side comparison of traditional rehabilitation provisions with the Nationally Applicable Recommended Rehabilitation Provisions and the code from which the provisions were adopted, the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code-Rehabilitation Subcode.
• Model Guidelines for Design, Fabrication, and Installation of Engineered Panelized Walls
  Modeled after existing standards for engineered wood trusses, this guide applies sound concepts to facilitate similar development of the panelized wall market. The guidelines address responsibilities of the designer, fabricator, and installer of panelized wall systems.
• The Practice of Low Impact Development
  This publication outlines the objectives of LID and explains how the approach can be easily integrated into a developer’s project planning.
• Residential Structural Design Guide: 2000 Edition
  This guide strives to "bridge the gap" between conventional engineering practices and conventional residential construction practices.
• Square Footage - Method for Calculating: ANSI Z765-2003
  This voluntary standard for measuring square footage in single-family detached and attached homes, developed by an American National Standards Committee, is the first national standard to reconcile differences in current methods for determining square footage.
• Structural Design Loads for One- and Two-Family Dwellings
  Written to be compatible with modern building codes and standards, this document can be easily used to determine structural loads on residential buildings.

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Construction Waste Management

• Deconstruction: Building Disassembly and Material Salvage - The Riverdale Case Study
  From lead and asbestos issues to market prices for used lumber and brick to labor hours it takes to remove hardwood flooring -- this case study has everything you'll want to know about deconstruction.
• The Deconstruction Series
  Four brochures about various facets of the deconstruction industry:
  • Carpet & Padding: Reuse and Recycling Opportunities
  • Deconstruction: Building Disassembly and Material Salvage
  • From Roofs to Roads: Recycling Asphalt Roof Shingles into Paving Materials
  • How to Clean-up in the Construction Waste Business
• A Guide to Deconstruction
  Learn how deconstruction can help play a role in local economic development efforts. Read about ways to support and complement other community objectives, and create job training and job opportunities for unskilled and unemployed workers.
• Investigation of Deconstruction Feasibility in the District of Columbia
  Designed for demolition contractors, deconstruction companies, non-profit community organizations and government officials interested in the potential of deconstruction to provide social, economic and environmental benefits.
• On-Site Grinding of Residential Construction Debris: The Indiana Grinder Pilot
  Written for new home builders, this report describes servicing construction sites with a mobile grinder and reusing the processed material on-site as erosion control and as a soil amendment.
• A Report on the Feasibility of Deconstruction: An Investigation of Deconstruction Activity in Four Cities
  This report is based on a study of four urban communities and lessons from other local deconstruction initiatives. It describes the conditions under which deconstruction is likely to work, and the barriers -- economic, organizational, and public policy -- that must be overcome for it to be a viable part of a community revitalization strategy.
• Residential Construction Waste Management: A Builder's Field Guide
  This field guide explains how construction waste management can positively affect a builder's operation, as well as the image of the entire home building industry.

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Educational Materials

• Advances in Jobsite Quality Control
  This hands-on workshop will help you use specifications, inspections and trade contractor partnerships to make quality controls work on the jobsite.
• Building With Photovoltaics
  Solar has come a long way since the oil crisis. Learn how PV works and about new roofing products that produce electricity.
• Geothermal Systems
  Discover how geothermal systems work, why builders are using them, and how they can add value to your homes.
• Optimum Value Engineering
  Learn tips and techniques to reduce hard costs and improve quality with the clever use of standard building materials.
• Residential Steel Framing
  This course covers construction methods, energy-saving details and considerations when changing from wood to steel framing.
• Understanding Home Building
  This course is ideal for anyone who wants to know the basics about the home construction process. Use it to initiate new workers, increase the knowledge of your sales team, add value to the sales transaction, and educate your buyers.

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Engineering Research

• Assessment of Damage to Residential Buildings Caused by the Northridge Earthquake
  This report evaluates the performance of houses experiencing severe ground shaking during the Northridge earthquake.
• Design, Fabrication, and Installation of Engineered Panelized Walls: Two Case Studies
  Two panelized wall systems are evaluated in terms of process of design, fabrication, and installation at two case study sites in high wind and earthquake-prone regions of the United States.
• Development of Frost Depth Maps for the United States
  This report completes a study of U.S. frost depths. It includes the development of a predictive model using comprehensive snow and temperature climate data and investigates sensitivities of soil type and moisture content.
• Evaluation of Housing Performance and Seismic Design Implications in the Northridge Earthquake
  This study gives an in-depth scientific analysis of a representative sample of the housing stock that was assessed following the Northridge Earthquake.
• Housing Durability Assessment and Survey Data
  In this report, a representative sample of 200 homes are used to evaluate a method of assessing the durability of two age categories of homes: 5-10 and 25-30 years old.
• An Industry Perspective on Performance Guidelines for Structural Safety and Serviceability of One- and Two-Family Dwellings
  This document, written in design specification style, identifies structural safety and serviceability performance criteria for residential buildings.
• Light-Frame Wood Shear Walls with Various Overturning Restraints
  This report addresses several areas of shear wall design with emphasis on the anchorage, overturning restraints, and bottom plate performance.
• Monitoring of Near Ground Wind in a Built-Up Suburban Environment
  This report provides a comprehensive review of literature on the effect of near ground environments on the wind profile and wind conditions near to the ground.
• Near-Ground Wind and Its Characterization for Engineering Applications
  The report gives recommendations and conclusions related to near-ground wind and its treatment from a building engineering perspective.
• New Madrid Seismic Zone: Overview of Earthquake Hazard and Magnitude Assessment Based on Fragility of Historic Structures
  While earthquake activity is usually associated with California, recent research indicates increased earthquake potential in the NMSZ. This study provides an overview of the seismic hazard assessment procedures used in the International Building Codes (IBC) and International Residential Code (IRC).
• Performance of Long Wood-Frame Shear Walls with Varying Opening and Base Restraint Configurations Including Anchor Bolts, Hold-Downs, and Corner Framing (Three Reports)
  This document contains a series of three reports that investigates the performance of perforated shear walls, conventional framed walls, and conventional engineered shear walls.
• Reliability of Conventional Residential Construction: An Assessment of Roof Component Performance in Hurricane Andrew and Typical Wind Regions of the United States
  This report gives findings from and in-depth engineering and risk modeling evaluation of the performance of residential construction affected by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
• Reliability of Light-Frame Roof Systems Subject to Wind Uplift
  This study compliments the reliability study conducted by the NAHB Research Center on Hurricane Andrew. It evaluates the range of reliability expected in various roof construction practices and indicates areas of strength and weakness from the perspective of risk.
• Roof Framing Connections in Conventional Residential Construction
  This study documents the structural behavior of key framing connections in conventional roof systems.
• Roof Sheathing Connection Tolerances
  This document presents guidelines on tolerances for installation of roof sheathing connections. The guidelines are based on results of structural testing on full-scale roof panels under uplift and shear loading.
• Studies on Probability-Based Design for Residential Construction
  This research report investigates historical trends in structural reliability of housing construction over the past century. Comparisons are made to modern engineering specifications for design of homes.
• System Performance of Wood Header Assemblies
  This study investigates the bending load performance of single wood members, double wood members (i.e., headers), and multiple wood members including floor framing.
• Whole Structure Testing and Analysis of a Light-Frame Building (Three Reports)
  This series of reports is a must for those interested in really knowing how light-frame buildings of conventional construction really perform under lateral (wind or seismic) loading.
• Wind-Borne Debris: Impact Resistance of Residential Glazing
  This technical report studies the impact resistance of single-layer annealed glass typically used in residential windows and doors.
• Wind Load Statistics for Probability-Based Structural Design
  This report gives an in-depth technical evaluation of wind risk in the United States for the purpose of determining an appropriate wind load factor for use in design of all types of structures, including homes.
• Wood Shear Walls with Corners
  This research study provides test data and analysis in support of engineering methods to account for lateral stability and restraint provided by corners of wood frame buildings.

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Forums and Roundtables

• Certification of Products for the Mature Market
  This publication includes a white paper, executive summary and meeting report from Seniors and America's Homes: Certification of Products for the Mature Market roundtable.
• Changing Demographics: A Building Industry Technology Roundtable
  This report benefits industry professionals interested in examining how demographics will impact demand for home designs, marketing, and products and services.
• Cost & Practicality of Home Modifications
  Because many older consumers are not familiar with their remodeling options, they may not receive the most practical and cost effective home modifications. To address these issues, a roundtable was convened to bring together remodelers, aging professionals, government representatives, and consumers to exchange concerns and to develop strategies for coping with the issues they identified.
• Housing Innovation and the Appraisal Process
  This report benefits home builders, building product manufacturers, and other industry professionals interested in new technology adoption in residential construction.
• The Manufactured Home: A Building Industry Technology Roundtable
  Explore areas where site builders and manufactured housing producers might mutually benefit through cooperation and definition of future areas of research that would expand the market for affordable housing.
• New Horizons in Quality Management: A Building Industry Technology Roundtable
  Find out where leading quality builders are heading. The three major themes threaded throughout the roundtable discussions included raising the bar on quality and customer satisfaction, re-engineering the construction process and how business managment is maturing.
• Supply Chain Solutions Roundtable
  This report benefits home builders, remodelers, architects, health care practitioners, and aging specialists who are the traditional sources of information about building products and features that can help older adults remain in their homes.

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Housing Market Reports

• Implications of the Soft Housing Market for Builders, Suppliers, and Manufacturers
  This report, based on a recent nationwide survey of home builders, documents what home builders are doing to survive the housing market downturn and the implications of this new industry environment for suppliers and manufacturers of building products.

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New Technology

• Commercialization of Innovations: Lessons Learned
  This report takes a look at two innovation experiences -- exterior insulated finishing systems and engineered wood I-joists -- suggesting several important recommendations for improving the diffusion of innovation in the residential construction industry.
• Field Investigation of Mechanical Ventilation Strategies in Residential Construction
  Provides builders and designers with more information about the use of whole house mechanical ventilation systems in new homes.
• Review of Structural Materials and Methods for Home Building in the United States: 1900 to 2000
  This report compiles numerous sources of data on historic housing statistics, construction practices, architectural features, and engineering data.
• Use of Ductless Mini-Split Electric Heat Pumps in Residences
  Discusses use of ductless electric heat pumps for heating and air conditioning of new homes.

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Research Home Resources

• Resource Conservation House Video
  Professional-quality VHS video shows the Resource Conservation House in various phases of construction.
• Twenty-First Century Townhouses: An Illustrated Guide
  Describes the major features of four townhouses built by the Research Center. Each townhouse was constructed using a different structural material -- autoclave aerated concrete, steel, structural insulating panels, and insulating concrete forms. Each house also had a differen HVAC system, and one included a solar photovoltaic roof.
• Twenty-first Century Townhouses: Video
  This video provides a good overview of the construction and finish of the 21st Century Townhouses built in the NAHB National Research Home Park. Also shown is installation of the photovoltaic (solar cell) roof.

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Seniors' Housing

• National Older Adult Housing Survey Report 2002: Summary of Findings
  The Summary of Findings from the National Older Adult Housing Survey (NOAHS) describes the choices that older adult homeowners make with respect to community amenities, home features, and living arrangements.
• Virtual Tour: Winning Designs from Aging in Place: A Student Design Competition for Students
  These CD-ROMs feature virtual tours of the winning designs from Aging in Place: A Smart-Aging Residential Design Competition for Students, which was sponsored by the National Center for Seniors' Housing Research.

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