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This report documents the effort launched by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop, organize, and convene a workshop on sustainability to promote the adoption and use of sustainable construction and manufacturing and guide
Wildfires that spread into communities, referred to as Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires, have destroyed communities throughout the world. In the USA, over 46 million homes in 70,000 communities are at risk of WUI fires [1-2]. These fires have destroyed
Abstract Based on recent EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventories, releases of methane (CH4) from the natural gas supply chain in the United States account for approximately 23% of the total US CH4 emissions. However, there continue to be questions regarding the
Piotr A. Domanski, Hugh Henderson, William V. Payne
Numerous studies and surveys indicated that typically-installed HVAC equipment operates inefficiently and wastes considerable energy due to different installation errors (faults), e.g., improper refrigerant charge, incorrect airflow, oversized equipment
In the early part of the 1970's built-up-roofing dominated the U.S. membrane roofing industry. It was estimated that 10 to 15 percent of these roofs failed, but by the late 1980's new membranes were being rapidly adopted. Among them, EPDM (ethylene
The safe use of nanocomposites depends, in part, on a good understanding of the fate of nanofillers throughout the nanocomposite‘s lifecycle. Various modifications of ISO weathering protocols have been proposed to assess what is released and at which rate
Max T. Kinateder, Erica D. Kuligowski, Paul A. Reneke, Richard Peacock
Risk perception (RP) is studied in many research disciplines (e.g., safety engineering, psychology, or sociology), and the contexts surrounding the ways in which different concepts of RP are applied vary greatly. Definitions of RP can be broadly divided
This document is a critical assessment of building codes and standards pertaining to structural design for fire from the United States, Canada, European Union members, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. These countries were selected because of their
Nicos Martys, William L. George, Maxime Liard, Pascal Hebraud, Didier Lootens
It has been observed that flow curves (viscosity vs shear-rate) of spherical non-colloidal particles suspended in a non-Newtonian fluid matrix can be rescaled so as to collapse onto the flow curve of the matrix fluid. This result is surprising given the
Max Kinateder, Erica D. Kuligowski, Paul A. Reneke, Richard Peacock
Risk perception (RP) is studied in many research disciplines (e.g., safety engineering, psychology, and sociology), and the context in which RP is studied varies greatly. Definitions of RP can be broadly divided into expectancy- value and risk-as-feeling
Erica D. Kuligowski, Richard Peacock, Paul A. Reneke, Emily A. Wiess, Jason D. Averill, Robert Hagwood, Enrico Ronchi, Bryan Hoskins, Michael Spearpoint
The time that it takes an occupant population to reach safety when descending a stairwell during building evacuations is typically described by measureable engineering variables such as stairwell geometry, speed, density, and pre-evacuation delay. In turn
Mark A. Kedzierski, William V. Payne, Harrison M. Skye
This paper recommends research that is required to develop and, thus, enable cost effective, residential electricity storage systems for renewable energy. As residential electricity generation from renewable sources becomes more prevalent, residential
Enrico Ronchi, Erica D. Kuligowski, Daniel Nilsson, Richard Peacock, Paul A. Reneke
To date there is no International standard on the verification and validation (V&V) of building fire evacuation models, i.e., model testers adopt inconsistent procedures or tests designed for other model uses. For instance, the tests presented within the
Maria Garlock, Jo? Kruppa, Guo-Qiang Li, Li, Bin Zhao
This white paper presents the state-of-the-art of large-scale experiments, modeling, and performance- based design efforts in fire behavior of steel structures
This white paper presents the current, international, state-of-the-art large-scale experimental, modeling, and performance-based design (PBD) efforts related to structural fire resistance of concrete structures. The paper addresses these topics with
Andrew Buchanan, Birgit SP Wood Technology, Sweden tman, Andrea Frangi
Fire resistance of timber structures is a very large field. In order to keep this document relatively small, the scope of is limited as follows: This report attempts to define a Performance-Based framework for the fire safety design of multi-story timber
Apparent combustion enhancement by some halon replacement fire suppressants (proposed for use in aircraft cargo bays) has been observed in full-scale, constant-volume tests at the FAA. In order to explore the phenomena, laboratory-scale constant-volume
Chi Hoang, Tinh Nguyen, Deborah Jacobs, Andrew K. Persily, Richard Cosi
Wood is gaining increased interest as a renewable building material. However, color changes, chemical and microbiological degradation can occur when lignocellulosic materials are exposed to environmental stressors such as ozone and elevated humidity. In
As building envelope performance and HVAC equipment efficiencies continue to be improved to reduce building energy use, a greater percentage of the total energy loss of a building can occur through envelope leakage. Although the energy impacts of
In this paper, we consider how high performing, sustainable building programs and designs are currently addressing indoor air quality (IAQ) and how they might improve their treatment of IAQ. As part of this effort, we reviewed 100 case studies of high
Dustin G. Poppendieck, Lisa C. Ng, Matthew P. Schlegel, Andrew K. Persily, Alfred Hodgson
This study evaluated the effectiveness of a low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) specification designed to minimize occupant exposures to indoor air pollutants in a net-zero energy research house meeting the ASHRAE Standard 62.2 ventilation requirements
Dustin G. Poppendieck, Steven J. Nabinger, Matthew P. Schlegel, Andrew K. Persily
The desire to build more energy efficient homes in the United States has lead to the expansion of the residential spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation industry. Annually, over 100,000 homes in the United States are constructed or retrofit using SPF
Todays low energy and sustainable buildings often call for innovative designs involving strategies such as natural ventilation. However, natural ventilation airflows are often difficult to estimate, in large part due to the unsteadiness of the wind. This