AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Moisture Risk in Unvented Attics Due to Air Leakage Paths - Minneapolis Minnesota

IBACOS completed an initial analysis of moisture damage potential in an unvented attic insulated with closed-cell spray polyurethane foam. To complete this analysis, the research team collected field data, used computational fluid dynamics to quantify the airflow rates through individual airflow (crack) paths, simulated hourly flow rates through the leakage paths with CONTAM software, correlated the CONTAM flow rates with indoor humidity ratios from Building Energy Optimization software, and used "Warme und Feuchte instationar Pro two-dimensional modeling" to determine the moisture content of the building materials surrounding the cracks. 
Given the number of simplifying assumptions and numerical models associated with this analysis, the results indicate that localized damage due to high moisture content of the roof sheathing is possible under very low airflow rates. Reducing the number of assumptions and approximations through field studies and laboratory experiments would be valuable to understand the real-world moisture damage potential in unvented attics.


Tags: attic-air-leakage, attic-ventilation, beopt, building-america, buildingamerica, cathedralized-attics, closed-cell-spray-foam-insulation, cold, computational-fluid-dynamics, hygrothermal-analysis, moisture-risk, multifamily, residential, single-family, water-vapor-flow-rate, wufi
Organization: Department of Energy
Evaluation of the Performance of Houses With and Without Supplemental Dehumidification in a Hot-Humid Climate

Understanding indoor humidity conditions in low energy homes in hot-humid climates is critical to promoting long term occupant comfort, indoor air quality and building durability. The results of this study were expected to inform the residential building community on whether supplemental dehumidification is a needed and effective investment to promote these long term standards.

Data logging equipment was installed at eight test homes in July, 2012 and later at two more test homes in January, 2013. Interior conditions and various end-use loads were monitored until November 7th, 2013. The mechanical systems at each of the 10 homes were commissioned by BSC to ensure consistent operation between each of the homes and to fully comply with the intended mechanical design.

PHA-1 to 8 - Energy Savings: 21.8-18.9%, Company: Project Home Again (PHA); Address New Orleans, LA 70112, House Count: 8
BDC-1 - Energy Savings: 28.8%, Company: Broadmoor Development Corporation (BDC); Address New Orleans, LA 70112, House Count: 2

Tags: building-america, buildingamerica, hot-humid, humidity, indoor-air-quality, interior-conditions, low-energy-high-performance, new-construction, occupant-behavior, residential, single-family, temperature, whole-house-dehumidifier
Organization: Department of Energy
NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Heyerdahl fire data from Slough, central Oregon - IMPD USSLO001

This archived Paleoclimatology Study is available from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), under the World Data Service (WDS) for Paleoclimatology. The associated NCEI study type is Fire. The data include parameters of fire history|tree ring with a geographic location of Oregon, United States Of America. The time period coverage is from 411 to 66 in calendar years before present (BP). See metadata information for parameter and study location details. Please cite this study when using the data.

Tags: climate indicators, continent, doc/noaa/nesdis/ncei, earth science, fire history, fire history|tree ring, fire scar dates, land records, latitude 43.933645, longitude -121.472754, material: null, material: wood, national centers for environmental information, nesdis, noaa, north america, oregon, paleoclimate, paleoclimate indicators, pinus ponderosa douglas ex c. lawson, pipo, ponderosa pine, slough, u.s. department of commerce, united states of america, western yellow pine, what: age, what: tree demographic and injury and fire event code
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
Measured Performance of a Varied Airflow Small-Diameter Duct System

In this study, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America team IBACOS built on research previously done in two new-construction unoccupied test houses-one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Poerschke and Stecher 2014) and one in Fresno, California (Stecher and Poerschke 2013). Specific traditional central air distribution systems were installed in each of these low-load homes. For this study, the cold-climate new-construction unoccupied test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was modified to test the performance of a heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system with varied airflow and small-diameter ducts.

The main goal of the small-diameter duct system is to simplify the task of bringing ductwork inside conditioned space, particularly on the single-story slab-on-grade type of home that is prevalent in the South and Southeast. Guidance is provided here to homebuilders and HVAC contractors on cost and performance tradeoffs between the conventional duct system and the small-diameter duct system.

Comparisons were made between variable-capacity heat pump operation modes with three constant airflow rates to determine the ideal tradeoff between maximizing thermal comfort and minimizing fan energy consumption.

ASHRAE Standard 55 (ASHRAE 2010a) was used to set limit metrics for temporal temperature variation; Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Manual RS (Rutkowski 1997) was used to set a limit on spatial temperature uniformity (room-to-thermostat uniformity). The small diameter duct system was able to meet the temporal temperature variation limits much better than the spatial temperature uniformity limits.

TO4 2.1.2: High Velocity Space Cond. Systems

Tags: acca-manual-rs, airflow, building-america, buildingamerica, bulkhead, cold, comfort, hot-dry, hvac, low-load, new-construction, residential, small-diameter-duct, static-pressure, temperature, unoccupied-house, variable-capacity-heat-pump, varied-airflow
Organization: Department of Energy
Evaluation of Early Performance Results for Massachusetts Homes in the National Grid Pilot Deep Energy Retrofit Program

In 2009, National Grid started a DER pilot program that offered technical support and financial incentives to qualified Massachusetts homeowners who planned and successfully completed a retrofit that incorporated the performance requirements and goals of the National Grid DER measures package. This DER measures package, developed through collaboration with Building Science Corporation (BSC), includes specific thermal and airtightness goals for the enclosure components as well as health, safety, durability, and indoor air quality requirements. By providing measures that can be included with common renovation activities such as roof replacement, window replacement, re-siding, basement remediation, and remodeling, this DER measures package is expected to have widespread application for existing homes in the New England area. The post-retrofit performance and cost ranges provided by this research project can provide concrete input for homeowners who are considering a DER.

Field test data available for air tightness measured using blower door test.

House 1 - Address Belchertown, MA 01007, Notes: Energy Savings: 75%, Company: Clark
House 2-1 and 2 - Address (1) Brownsberger, MA 02478 and (2) Belmont, MA 02478, Notes Energy Savings: 73%, Company: Brownsberger
House 3 - Address Millbury, MA 01527, Notes Energy Savings: 31%, Company: Tweedly
House 4 - Address Milton, MA 02186 Notes Energy Savings: 42%, Company: Koh
House 5 - Address Quincy, MA 02169, Notes Energy Savings: 57%, Company: Hall
House 6-1 and 2 - Address Arlington, MA 02476, Notes Energy Savings: 55%, Company: Venable-Hwang
House 7 - Address Newton, MA 02459, Notes Energy Savings: 42%, Company: Lavine
House 8-1, 2, and 3 - Address Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, Notes Energy Savings: 43%, Company: Buhs
House 9 - Address Northampton, MA 01060, Notes Energy Savings: 49%, Company: Wick
House 10 - Address Lancaster, MA 01523, Notes Energy Savings: 40%, Company: Habitat for Humanity of North Central Massachusetts
House 11 - Address Brookline, MA 02445, Notes Energy Savings: 27%, Company: Aquiline
House 12 - Address Westford, MA 01886, Notes Energy Savings: 30%, Company: Atkins
House 13 - Address Gloucester, MA 01930, Notes Energy Savings: 35%, Company: Cunningham



Tags: airtightness, building-america, buildingamerica, cold, comfort, community, cost-effectiveness, deep-energy-retrofit, existing-home, indoor-air-quality, national-grid-der-pilot, residential, retrofit, single-family, small-multifamily
Organization: Department of Energy
Solar Row Zero Energy Townhomes - Boulder, CO

Wonderland Development has constructed a new "near zero energy" row home design in North Boulder consisting of 9 units: one 5-plex and two duplexes. NREL has performed short-term tests and installed long-term monitoring equipment in three of these units. Two of these units used a solar thermal combi system with a boiler for radiant space heating and water heating and mini-split system for space conditioning. The third unit used a high efficiency tank water heater for space heating. In addition to studying the overall performance of the homes, one unit was used for a detailed study on hot water draws at each fixture. Several reports and presentations were produced on this project, however, due to shifting funding and staffing priorities, a comprehensive final report for this project was never completed. This dataset contains a wealth of raw and analyzed data and several unpublished reports. 

Tags: building-america, buildingamerica, cold, multifamily, new-construction, photovoltaic-system, residential, solar-combi-system, solar-thermal-system, tracer-gas-testing, zero-energy-home
Organization: Department of Energy
NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Heyerdahl fire data from Weitz, Palouse northwestern United States - IMPD USWEI001

This archived Paleoclimatology Study is available from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), under the World Data Service (WDS) for Paleoclimatology. The associated NCEI study type is Fire. The data include parameters of fire history|tree ring with a geographic location of Idaho, United States Of America. The time period coverage is from 368 to 55 in calendar years before present (BP). See metadata information for parameter and study location details. Please cite this study when using the data.

Tags: climate indicators, continent, doc/noaa/nesdis/ncei, earth science, fire history, fire history|tree ring, fire scar dates, idaho, land records, latitude 46.82721, longitude -116.985, material: null, material: wood, national centers for environmental information, nesdis, noaa, north america, paleoclimate, paleoclimate indicators, pinus ponderosa douglas ex c. lawson, pipo, ponderosa pine, u.s. department of commerce, united states of america, weitz, western yellow pine, what: age, what: tree demographic and injury and fire event code
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
CTA - Bus Turnarounds - Shapefile

Point data representing locations of all bus turnarounds that are not located at Rail Stations. To view or use these files, compression software and special GIS software, such as ESRI ArcGIS is required.                                                                                          
Projected Coordinate System:	NAD_1983_StatePlane_Illinois_East_FIPS_1201_Feet

Tags: bus, cta, gis, shapefiles
Organization: City of Chicago
Sacramento Deep Energy Retrofit (DER) Home Study

This project was part of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Deep Energy Retrofit (DER) Project which included several other homes in addition to the the subject of this study. Some of the reports and presentations included in this dataset cover the whole DER project. The retrofit home was one of several homes in the DER project.

The goal of this monitoring plan is to develop a protocol for monitoring the SMUD DER project and answer the following major questions:
1. Is heat pump water heater performing as expected?
2. Is the whole house energy as expected?
3. Based on monitored results, how can performance be improved in future retrofit projects?

Tags: attic-insulation, building-america, buildingamerica, deep-energy-retrofit, existing-home, heat-pump-water-heater, hot-dry, hvac, marine, residential
Organization: Department of Energy
Mini-Split Heat Pump Evaluation and Zero Energy Ready Home Support

This project was created from a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Building America research team, IBACOS, Inc., and a production builder of high-performance homes called Imagine Homes, which is located in San Antonio, Texas-a hot-humid climate. The primary purpose of this project was to evaluate the performance of a multihead mini-split heat pump (MSHP) space-conditioning system in maintaining uniform comfort in an occupied test house.

My Design - PV: Test house design characteristics, with installed PV system
DESIGN - Occupied Test House with PV: Design used for one occupied test house including PV
STRUCTURE - Platinum Court San Antonio, TX: Occupied test house in 2013

Tags: building-america, buildingamerica, existing-home, hot-humid, indoor-air-handling-unit, multihead-mini-split-heat-pump, residential, single-family-detached, spray-foam-insulation, vented-attic-assemble, zero-energy-ready-home
Organization: Department of Energy
Raleigh Housing Authority Duct Sealing Evaluation

In multifamily and attached buildings, manual duct sealing methods are often impractical or very costly and disruptive because of the difficulty in accessing leakage sites. In this project, two retrofit duct sealing techniques manually applied sealants and injecting a spray sealant (Aeroseal) in combination with some manual sealing were implemented in several low-rise multi-unit buildings in North Carolina. An analysis of the cost and performance of the two methods is presented. Each method was used in 20 housing units: approximately half of each group of units are single story and the remainder are two story. Results show that duct leakage to the outside was reduced by an average of 59% through the use of manual methods, and by 90% in the units where a combination of injected spray sealant and manual sealing was used. Some of this difference is likely due to the fact that injected spray sealing reached portions of the duct system that were inaccessible to manual methods. It was found that 73% of the leakage reduction in homes that were treated with injected spray sealant was attributable to the manual sealing done at boots, returns, and the air handler.

The cost of manually applying sealant ranged from $275 to $511 per unit and for the Aeroseal treated ducts the cost was $700 per unit. Utility bills were collected and compared for 1 year before and after the retrofits for each unit. Energy savings based on utility bills were within 25%-50% of those predicted by the models for most unit types. Utility bill analysis shows 14% and 16% energy savings using the Aeroseal and hand sealing procedures, respectively, in heating season whereas in cooling season, energy savings using Aeroseal and hand sealing were both 16%. Average simple payback based on utility bills was 2.2 years for manual units and 4.7 years for the Aeroseal units. Only 18 of 40 units had usable utility bills.

Berkshire Village Court - House Count - 4: Single Story, Hand sealed ducts; Single Story, Aeroseal Ducting; 2-Story, Hand Sealed ducts; 2-Story, Aeroseal ducts
Terrace Park Court - House Count - 2: Single Story, Hand sealed ducts; Double Story, Hand sealed ducting
Winter Park Court - House Count - 2: Single Story, Hand sealed ducts, Aeroseal sealed ducting; Double Story, Aeroseal ducting

Tags: aeroseal, air-distribution-systems, air-leakage, building-america, buildingamerica, duct-pressurization, duct-sealing, existing-home, hvac, indoor-environmental-quality, injected-spray-sealant, mixed-humid, multifamily, new-construction, residential, single-family-attached
Organization: Department of Energy
Public Housing: A Tailored Approach to Energy Retrofits - Raleigh

More than 1 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-supported public housing units provide rental housing for eligible low-income families across the country. These units range from scattered single-family houses to high-rise apartments. In this project, the Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions Collaborative (ARIES) worked with two public housing authorities (PHAs) to develop packages of energy efficiency retrofit measures the PHAs can cost-effectively implement with their own staffs in the normal course of housing operations at the time when units are refurbished between occupancies. ARIES conducted a survey of PHAs to assess their receptiveness to this concept and the applicability of the concept to PHA units. The results of the survey, to which more than 100 PHAs responded, support the proposed approach. The project consisted of a field evaluation in which energy audits were performed on a sample of PHA units at two housing authorities. Energy efficiency turnover protocols were developed for typical units, the protocol was implemented by PHA staff, and the effectiveness of the protocol was quantified through field testing and modeling. The energy efficiency turnover protocols emphasized air infiltration reduction, duct sealing, and measures that improve equipment efficiency. In the 10 housing units in which ARIES documented implementation, reductions in average air leakage of 16%-20% and duct leakage of 38% were obtained. Total source energy consumption savings was estimated at 6%-10% based on Building Energy Optimization modeling with a simple payback of 1.7-2.2 years. Implementation challenges were encountered, mainly related to required operational changes and budgetary constraints. Lack of complete training and inadequate quality control can prevent PHAs from effectively retrofitting units to their full potential. Nevertheless, despite these hurdles, simple improvements, such as caulking and sealing penetrations, windows, and doors; sealing duct boots; and adding pipe insulation into a standardized turnover protocol can feasibly be accomplished by PHA staff at low or no cost. At typical housing unit turnover rates, these measures could impact hundreds of thousands of units per year nationally.

Islip Housing Authority - Single Story Typical home - Raleigh, NC
Raleigh Housing Authority - 2 story typical home in Raleigh housing authority - Terrace Park


Tags: air-filtration, air-leakage, beopt, building-america, buildingamerica, duct-sealing, energy-modeling, mixed-humid, pipe-insulation, quality-control, residential, retrofit, small-multifamily
Organization: Department of Energy
Lottery Applications for Tobacco Retail Dealer (TRD) and Electronic Cigarette Dealer Licenses (ECD)

The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) conducts a semi-annual review of Tobacco Retail Dealer licenses and Electronic Cigarette Dealer Licenses in each Community District to determine if the number of current licenses has fallen below the Community District cap. DCWP issues a public notice in the City Record stating which Community Districts have available licenses, how many licenses are available, and when it will begin accepting Lottery Application forms.

At the close of the Lottery Application Period, DCWP will assign each accepted application a “Priority Number” using a computer-generated random number selection program. If the number of accepted Lottery Application Forms exceeds the number of available Tobacco Retail Dealer licenses for the Community District, DCWP will issue offers to apply for the license in the order of the assigned Priority Numbers.

Tags: active, application-date, borough, cap, cigarette, community-board, community-district, ecd, electronic-cigarette-retail-dealer, licenses, limit, suspended, tobacco, tobacco-retail-dealer, trd
Organization: City of New York
Phased Retrofits in Existing Homes in Florida Phase I: Shallow and Deep Retrofits

The U.S. Department of Energy's Building America research team Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction is collaborating with Florida Power & Light (FPL) to conduct a phased residential energy-efficiency retrofit program. This research seeks to establish impacts on annual energy and peak energy reductions from the technologies applied at two levels of retrofit-shallow and deep-with savings levels that approach the Building America program goal of reducing whole-house energy use by 40%. 

Home 7 - Merritt Island, FL 32952
Home 39 - Palm Bay, FL 32907 - BEOpt 2.1.0.2

Tags: building-america, buildingamerica, community, cost-effectiveness, deep-energy-retrofit, domestic-hot-water-systems, existing-home, heat-pump-water-heater, humidity, hvac, lighting, phased-deep-retrofit, pool-pumps, residential, shallow-retrofits
Organization: Department of Energy
Simplified Space Conditioning in Low-Load Homes

TO3 2.1.6: Simplified Space Conditioning

IBACOS anticipates that houses achieving 50% whole-house source energy savings with respect to the Building America 2010 Benchmark (Hendron and Engebrecht 2010a) will be considered "low load." Low load is defined by IBACOS as a house with a thermal enclosure that yields a maximum space heating and cooling load of less than 10 Btu/h/ft2 of conditioned floor area (31.5 W/m2 [1,200 ft2 /ton]). These small loads can be met by systems other than today's typical ducted forced-air systems. For example, distributed fan coils with minimized ducts, terminal fan coil units, or point source units with buoyant force or ventilation-driven distribution may provide sufficient occupant comfort in a low-load home. These systems, which can have lower total installed costs than traditional ducted forced-air systems (Stecher 2011), allow the thermal enclosure characteristics of low-load houses to provide first-cost savings in addition to operational cost savings.

The purpose of this study is to help determine cost-effective solutions for heating and cooling houses that are designed to be energy efficient. This is done by testing the occupant comfort performance of some concepts that may already exist on the market but are not in use by production homebuilders. In some cases, the products are market available, but their use in housing may be a new application. The standards used to assess the performance of the systems in this study are Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Manual RS (Rutkowski 1997) and ASHRAE Standard 55-2010 (ASHRAE 2010a).

Tags: acca-manual-rs, airflow, ashrae-standard-55, building-america, buildingamerica, cold, comfort, cost-effectiveness, hvac, new-construction, residential, single-family-detached, space-conditioning, thermal-enclosure, unoccupied-house, whole-home
Organization: Department of Energy