James B. Cummings

Managing the Drivers of Air Flow and Water Vapor Transport in Existing Single Family Homes (Revised)

This document focuses on managing the driving forces which move air and moisture across the building envelope. While other previously published Measure Guidelines focus on elimination of air pathways, the ultimate goal of this Measure Guideline is to manage drivers which cause air flow and water vapor transport across the building envelope (and also within the home), control air infiltration, keep relative humidity (RH) within acceptable limits, avoid combustion safety problems, improve occupant comfort, and reduce house energy use.

Cooling and Heating Season Impacts of Right-Sizing of Fixed- and Variable-Capacity Heat Pumps With Attic and Indoor Ductwork

A new generation of full variable-capacity air-conditioning (A/C) and heat pump units has come on the market that promises to deliver very high cooling and heating efficiency. The units are controlled differently than standard single-capacity (fixed-capacity) systems. Instead of cycling on at full capacity and cycling off when the thermostat is satisfied, the new units can vary their capacity over a wide range (approximately 40%–118% of nominal full capacity) and stay on for 60%–100% more hours per day than the fixed-capacity systems depending on load-to-capacity ratios. Two-stage systems were not evaluated in this research effort.

Southern Energy Efficiency Center (SEEC)

The Southern Energy Efficiency Center (SEEC) builds collaborative partnerships with: state and local governments and their program support offices, the building delivery industry (designers, contractors, realtors and commissioning agents), product manufacturers and their supply chains, utilities and their program implementers, consumers and other stakeholders in order to forge a strong regional network of building energy efficiency allies. Through a project Steering Committee composed of the state energy offices and building industry stakeholders, the SEEC works to establish consensus-based goals, priorities and strategies at the regional, state and local levels that will materially advance the deployment of high-performance “beyond code” buildings. In its first Phase, SEEC will provide limited technical and policy support assistance, training, certification and education to a wide spectrum of the building construction, codes and standards, and the consumer marketplace.