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This article defines Heat Loss, R-value, U-value, & K-Value measures of heating loss rate or insulation effectiveness and provides basic building insulation and heat loss guidelines including how to measure or calculate heat loss in a building, defines thermal terms like BTU and calorie, provides measures of heat transmission in materials, gives desired building insulation design data, and shows how to calculate the heat loss in a building with R values or U values.

Because no amount of insulation can keep a drafty building warm, also review ENERGY SAVINGS PRIORITIES. Also see HEAT LOSS INDICATORS (where is the building losing heat during the heating season, or gaining un-wanted heat during the cooling season), and see HEAT LOSS R U & K VALUE CALCULATION for a guide to calculating heat loss (or gain) rates for buildings and building insulation. For a discussion of air conditioner, heat pump and other appliance SEER and EER energ efficiency ratings see SEER RATINGS & OTHER DEFINITIONS.

Formula-R™ and Owens Corning™ which may be visible in this photograph of pink Styrofoam™ insulation boards are registered trademarks of Owens Corning® and were photographed at a Home Depot® building supply center.

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When we are evaluating the quality and effectiveness of insulation in a building or the adequacy of a building heating or cooling system, we need to use measurements that permit us to describe the rate at which a building loses heat under various conditions (such as outdoor temperature, wind velocity, how leaky the building is, the area of its windows and perhaps doors, and the amount of insulation in the building walls, floors, and ceilings. A few of these critical definitions is given just below, followed by some simple formulas used to calculate the heat loss in a building.

Definitions of BTUs, BTUH, and Calories for Discussing Building Heat Gain or Heat Loss Analysis

Definition of BTUs and BTUH: a BTU is one "British Thermal Unit" which is defined as the quantity of heat that would be required to increase the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

A BTUH is defined as the number of BTU's lost (if we're talking about heat loss or air conditioning), or provided (if we're talking about providing heat for a building) in one hour. You'll often see BTUH as a number on data plates on air conditioners and on heating systems.

Also see our examples of BTU data used in air conditioning and heat pump calculations discussed at What is a BTU or British Thermal Unit? What is a Joule? for details about BTUs and various examples of BTU and BTUh calculations. There we give definitions of related terms such as latent heat, superheat, latent heat of condensation, sensible heat, and specific heat.

One BTU is also equal to 252 calories. So what's a calorie?

Definition of Calorie or Calories: a calorie is defined as the quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Centigrade

Definitions of R-Value, U-Value, K-Value

R values and heat loss: The "R" value of a material is its resistance to heat flow through the material. When buying various insulation materials you will almost always see an "R" value quoted for the material. In general, higher "R" means more resistance to heat loss and therefore lower heating or cooling bills for the building.

Mathematically, "R" is simply the reciprocal of the two measures discussed in more detail below:

• U - the measure of heat transfer (the ability of a substance to conduct heat) discussed above and also at "U"
• K - the coefficient of heat transmission discussed at "K"

"K" (R = 1/K) or "U" (R_{(whole building)} = 1/U)

As you'll read below, the heat transmission coefficient "K" measures the heat flow through an individual substance and "U" measures the overall building heat loss by adding all of the various areas and substances together.

Reader Peter J. Collins has noted in clarification of the definition of "R" value that

The R-value of a material is a measure of its thermal resistance.

The U-value (or U-factor), more correctly called the overall heat transfer coefficient

We add that R-value measures the resistance of a material to transfer heat (in any direction). Higher R-vales are more resistant to heat transfer. When we are discussing building insulation, an insulation with a higher R-value would be expected to resist heat loss more than one of a lower R-value, if all other factors such as air leakage or heat radiation are the same.

And as Mr. Collins elaborates,

R-value = resistance to the movement of heat

U = the ability to transfer heat, obviously an inverse condition, to resistance, or in other words, or to allow the transfer of heat

But as we elaborate below at Definition of U value or U-coefficient of heat loss resistance, the NFRC (National Fenestration Council) in discussing solar heat gain at windows, describes the U-Factor (U) as follows:

U-Factor measures how well a product prevents heat from escaping a home or building. U-Factor ratings generally fall between 0.20 and 1.20. The lower the U-Factor, the better a product is at keeping heat in. U-Factor is particularly important during the winter heating season. This label displays U-Factor in U.S. units. Labels on products sold in markets outside the United States may display U-Factor in metric units.

Definition of Insulation R-Values or Building R-Values: Rate of Heat Loss Per Hour for a Building

How to Calculate the R value U value & K value for a Building & How to Use These Numbers

If you like, read below this section to see our details about "K" values, "U" values, and "R" values as measures of heat movement in buildings. Actually calculating a building's actual rate of heat loss is pretty simple - it's a "cookbook" process that uses the following formula: (Also see HEAT LOSS in buildings)

Heat Loss using "R" values:
(Building Heat Loss in BTU's per hour) =
(Building Total Surface Area in sq.ft.) / (Surface Area "R" value) x (Temperature Difference)

Temperature Difference = the difference in temperature in deg F. on the two sides of the building surface, typically indoors and outdoors

Surface Area "R" value = the "R" value of the surface area being evaluated (say an insulated wall).

Heat Loss using "U" values:
(Building Heat Loss in BTU's per hour) U = 1/R, - or in other words -
(Building Total Surface Area in sq.ft.) / (Surface Area "U" value) x (Temperature Difference)

More considerations when measuring home energy use or heat loss

But there's more work to do for a complete answer to building heat loss. We need to make up a simple table which will contain the total surface area of each type of material (since each will have it's own "R" value) and then plug in the area's "R" value and the temperature difference. Usually we assume the same temperature difference for all of the areas of the building though this might be a simplification since that may not be exactly true.

How to include the effect of wind on home energy use or heat loss

We're also missing, from this simple calculation, the effects of wind on a building's heat loss, though a more sophisticated version of this approach might simply adjust the temperature difference to include the wind factor.

For example, you could use a wind/temperature chart to derive the effective outdoor temperature when it's also windy. In cold conditions, adding a wind velocity will lower the effective outdoor temperature and thus it will increase the temperature difference across the building wall.

Use any "wind chill factor" chart for this data. Still more sophistication of measures of heat loss are possible by adding the effects of moisture on heat loss from a surface, but while this is important for a (sweaty) human in cold conditions it is generally ignored when considering building heat loss.

Using a spreadsheet to accurately calculate building heat loss or heat gain

This is a perfect application for an Excel or similar spread sheet, listing each building surface type (wall, window, door), it's R, K, or U value, and its total area. Adding temperature difference across these surfaces permits a calculation of the heat loss (or gain) through each surface type. These are simply added together to represent the entire building's heat loss or gain.

Heat loss vs. heat gain in buildings: applying the simple laws of thermodynamics

You may have noticed we keep talking about heat loss and then we add "or heat gain" in the same sentences or headings. That's because heat loss analysis works just fine for both building heating and building cooling. The only differences between looking at heat loss and heat gain for a building are the direction of heat flow and the fact that we may be using different equipment with different equipment efficiencies (a heating furnace or boiler versus an air conditioner).

If we're in a heating climate and are in the heating season, heat will flow from the building interior to the outdoors.

If we're in a cooling climate and are in the cooling season, heat will flow from the outdoors to the building interior. Just remember that (according to the laws of thermodynamics), heat (or energy) always flows from the warmer (or more exited state) into the cooler (or less excited state) area of a building.

Definition of the K value or K-coefficient of heat transmission

A building's K value or K-coefficient of heat transmission is one way to express the heat loss in a building. "K" is defined as the number of BTU's of heat moving through any material with these details:

• Per square foot of area of the material
• Per degree Fahrenheit of temperature difference
• Per inch of thickness of the material

So "K" takes a lot of variables into consideration and gives us the rate of heat loss per square foot of building surface, per inch of thickness of material in that building surface, per degree of temperature difference in Fahrenheit, in BTUs per hour.

By "degree of temperature difference in Fahrenheit" we mean that we are taking into consideration the difference in temperature on the two sides of our building surface. For example, if the indoor temperature in a building is 68 deg. F. and the outdoor temperature is 48 deg. F., then we have a 20 degree temperature difference on the two sides of the building (wall or roof for example).

This temperature difference on the two sides of a surface, say an insulated building wall, for example, is very important in understanding how a building loses heat (in the heating season) or gains heat (in the cooling season). That's because the rate of heat transfer through a material increases exponentially as a function of the temperature difference. This is intuitively obvious and is confirmed by physicists.

For example, if the temperatures on either side of a building wall were the same, there would be no heat loss or gain through the building wall. As the temperature difference on either side of that same wall increases, say from one degree of difference to 20 degrees of difference the rate of heat transfer increases.

An interesting version of this heat transfer theory was shared with the author in a class on how to minimize building heating costs when the instructor told us that "the thermal conductivity of finned copper heating baseboard is exponentially greater at higher temperatures".

He was saying that if we ran heating water from our heating boiler through the baseboards at 200 deg.F. we would see much more efficient heat transfer from the heating baseboards into the building. There are other factors involved in heating system efficiency such as the length of boiler "on" cycle (longer is more efficient), so there was more to think about, but the instructor was applying classic heat transfer theory that is reflected in the "K" values of building insulation as we've discussed here.

Definition of U value or U-coefficient of heat loss resistance

U-value measures the ability to transfer heat, an inverse condition, to heat movement resistance, or in other words, or U-value measures the ability of a substance to allow the transfer of heat

The NFRC (National Fenestration Council) in discussing solar heat gain at windows, describes the U-Factor (U) as follows:

U-Factor measures how well a product prevents heat from escaping a home or building. U-Factor ratings generally fall between 0.20 and 1.20. The lower the U-Factor, the better a product is at keeping heat in. U-Factor is particularly important during the winter heating season. This label displays U-Factor in U.S. units. Labels on products sold in markets outside the United States may display U-Factor in metric units.

Computing "K" values (discussed above) tells us the heat loss rate for a specific material, thickness, area, and temperature difference but while we need to be able to calculate "K" values, those alone don't tell us what's going on in an actual building. We need to be able to combine all of the rates of heat loss (or gain) across all of the types of surfaces, insulation, and building material for the whole building - at least for all of its external or perimeter surfaces including roofs, walls, and floors as well as windows and doors. That's where the "U" value makes its appearance.

A building's "U" value or U-coefficient of resistance of heat loss is a related measure of resistance to thermal energy or heat flow out of a building (if it's warmer inside than outside) or conversely the same concept works in a warm climate where air conditioning is in use, except that we expect outside heat to be flowing into the building.

A building's "U" value is much more complete, and therefore useful than "K" values alone because a building's "U" value combines the "K" factors for all of the building's surfaces and materials. In other words, we add the effects of heat loss (or gain), still expressed in the number of BTU's per hour per square foot of area, and still expressed per degree of Fahrenheit of temperature difference and still expressed per inch of thickness of material (just as with "K" values), for all of the substantial areas and surfaces of the exterior of a building's floors, walls, windows, doors, ceilings, or roofs (if cathedral ceilings are present).

To calculate the "U" value, or overall heat loss (or gain if we're air conditioning) for a building, we need to add the "R" values for each material in the structure, and to factor in the total area of each material in the structure. We discuss this procedure in more detail below at "Calculating Heat Loss for a Building".

Definition of Design Temperature for buildings and Building Insulation?

The "indoor design temperature" for a building refers to the assumed target indoor temperature that the building owner or occupants want. Typically 70 deg.F. is used unless the owner specifies something different.

The "outdoor design temperature" for a building is (for heating purposes) assumed to be the average lowest recorded temperature for each month between October and March (the heating season in most climates). If we are specifying a "design temperature" for cooling climates we'd use the average outdoor highest recorded temperature during the heating season, perhaps April through September.

Watch out when calculating building or room heating needs. In a recent review of the number of linear feet of heating baseboard needed for a New York building addition we tried out an excellent heat loss analysis program provided by SlantFin. The program considers most of the key variables you'd want examined for an accurate and reliable heating design. But we found that our building had properties not considered by the heat loss software, including

• The specific R-value of the insulation we used in a cathedral ceiling and in a floor as well as in 2x6-framed walls
• The effects of the surprise by our plumber who installed 1/2-inch diameter heating supply and return piping instead of the 3/4" diameter pipes we anticipated, and his assumption that the flow rate was 1 gph through the system would be OK instead of the design point of 4 gph.
• A designed variation in placement of windows to provide more solar gain on South and West walls and less glazing (and heat loss) through the building's North wall
• Effects of using an insulation method and other building design features that minimized air leaks (foam insulation, and detailing around window and door openings, for example)

Fortunately simpler rules of thumb analysis by consultants at our heating equipment and parts supplier indicated that the modified design would adequately heat the space.

Definition of Heating Degree Day or Cooling "Degree Day"

Some building insulation designers and architects look at the number of "degree days" as an easy way to get at the average outdoor temperatures for an area and a season. A "degree day" is the daily average number of degrees Fahrenheit that the outdoor temperature is below 65 deg.F.

The number of "degree days" during a heating season is easy to obtain: call your local oil delivery company or utility company. These energy providers keep close tabs on degree days for their area since this number is used in planning for the automatic delivery of energy. It's the number of "degree days" that have occurred in a given period, combined with a building's historic rate of heating oil use, for example, that tells an oil company when to schedule that building for an automatic delivery of heating oil.

Definition of Tons of Cooling Capacity

"One ton" of cooling capacity, historically, referred to the cooling capacity of a ton of ice. Re-stated we can define one ton of cooling capacity as the amount of heat energy absorbed in the melting of one ton of ice over a 24-hour period.

One ton of cooling capacity is the same as 12,000 BTU's per hour of cooling capacity or 288,000 BTUs of cooling capacity provided over a period of 24 hours (12,000 x 24 hours = 288,000).

What is the Relationship of Cooling Capacity and Dehumidification?

Tons of ice does not, however, explain an important factor in the comfort produced by air conditioning systems, reduction of indoor humidity - that is, removing water from indoor air. Cool air holds less water (in the form of water molecules or gaseous form of H2O) than warm air.

Think of the warmer air as having more space between the gas molecules for the water molecules to remain suspended. When we cool the air, we in effect are squeezing the water molecules out of the air. When an air conditioner blows warm humid building air across an evaporator coil in the air handler unit, it is not only cooling the air, it is removing water from that air. Both of these effects, cooler air and drier air, increase the comfort for building occupants. One ton of cooling capacity equals 12,000 BTU's/hour of cooling capacity.

Also see
DEW POINT CALCULATION for WALLS
DEW POINT TABLE - CONDENSATION POINT GUIDE

How do we measure cooling or heating efficiency: the relationshop between BTUs and cooling or heating operating cost?

Note that the BTU rating of an air conditioner itself does not tell you how economically those tons of cooling capacity are being produced. For the answer to that question see SEER RATINGS & OTHER DEFINITIONS for air conditioners and heat pumps.

Questions & Answers regarding this article

Questions & answers about heating & cooling terms, measurements, values & definitions.

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DEFINITION of Heating & Cooling Terms
  Definition of BTUs, BTUH, & Calories
  Definition of K value K-coefficient heat transmission
  Definition of U value or U-coefficient heat loss resistance
  Definition of R-Values for Insulation or buildings
  Definition of Design Temperature for buildings
  Definition of Heating or Cooling "Degree Day"
  SEER RATINGS & OTHER DEFINITIONS
  Definition of Tons of Cooling Capacity

• Thanks to reader Peter J. Collins for discussing and helping clarify definitions of R U and K - August 2010
• Asbestos pipe insulation in buildings
• Brick "Insulation" in Building Walls
• HEAT LOSS CALCULATIONS, Insulation Properties, Definitions of R, K, U values, Insulation Design
• How to Choose an Air Conditioner - BTU Chart
• How to Detect and Correct Attic Condensation & Prevent Ice Dam Leaks in buildings
• How to Inspect Building Interiors and Building Insulation/Ventilation list of articles about building insulation inspection, defects, design, and ventilation requirements
• Insulation Materials as Indicators of Building Age
• Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Fiberglass in Indoor Air, HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
• Insulation Identification Photographs - Cellulose insulation photos, Mineral wool insulation photos, rock wool insulation photos, cotton insulation photos, balsam wool insulation photos
• Insulation Identification Photographs - Vermiculite insulation photos
• LP or Natural Gas Pressures & BTUH per Cubic Foot
• Insulation Properties, Table of R-Values, density, moisture permeability, fire safety, aging effects on various insulation materials
• Mold in Fiberglass in Insulation
• Radiant Heat Floor Mistakes to Avoid
• Rated Cooling Capacity - How to Determine Air Conditioning Equipment Rated Cooling Capacity
• "Solar Heat Gain & Windows, the facts about", NFRC, National Fenestration Rating Council, January 2005, NFRC website: www.nfrc.org retrieved 12/4/2010, original source: http://www.nfrc.org/documents/SolarHeatGain.pdf.
• Un-Vented Roof Solutions - How to Prevent Attic Condensation, Ice Dam Leaks, Roof Mold, & Roof Structural Damage in buildings with Un-vented Roof Cavities
• Vermiculite Building Insulation & Asbestos

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.

• "The Elimination of Unsafe Guardrails, a Progress Report," Elliott O. Stephenson, Building Standards, March-April 1993
• "Are Functional Handrails Within Our Grasp" Jake Pauls, Building Standards, January-February 1991
• Access Ramp building codes:
  • UBC 1003.3.4.3
  • BOCA 1016.3
  • ADA 4.8.2
  • IBC 1010.2
• Access Ramp Standards:
  • ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), Public Law 101-336. 7/26/90 is very often cited by other sources for good design of stairs and ramps etc. even where disabled individuals are not the design target.
  • ANSI A117.4 Accessible and Usable buildings and Facilities (earlier version was incorporated into the ADA)
  • ASTM F 1637, Standard Practice for Safe Walking Surfaces, (Similar to the above standards)
• America's Favorite Homes, mail-order catalogues as a guide to popular early 20th-century houses, Robert Schweitzer, Michael W.R. Davis, 1990, Wayne State University Press ISBN 0814320066 (may be available from Wayne State University Press)
• American Plywood Association, APA, "Portland Manufacturing Company, No. 1, a series of monographs on the history of plywood manufacturing",Plywood Pioneers Association, 31 March, 1967, www.apawood.org
• Animal Allergens: Dog, Cat, and Other Animal Dander - Cleanup & Prevention Information for Asthmatics and regarding Indoor Air Quality.
• Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts and Flues field identification photos and guide
• Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print).
• Asbestos Identification and Testing References
• Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
• Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
• Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone
• Brick nogging used as soundproofing is mentioned in this article on Popular Forest
• Brick Nogging, Historical Investigation and Contemporary Repair, Construction Specifier, April 2006. Historical use of brick in timber-framed buildings, drawing on the investigations of the Kent Tavern in Calais, VT. "Brick nogging is a European method of construction which was brought to the new world in the early-nineteenth century. It was a common construction method that employed masonry as infill between the vertical uprights of wood framing." -- quoting the web article review.
• Photo of very rough in-wall brick nogging at an architects website
• Building Research Council, BRC, nee Small Homes Council, SHC, School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, brc.arch.uiuc.edu. "The Small Homes Council (our original name) was organized in 1944 during the war at the request of the President of the University of Illinois to consider the role of the university in meeting the demand for housing in the United States. Soldiers would be coming home after the war and would be needing good low-cost housing. ...  In 1993, the Council became part of the School of Architecture, and since then has been known as the School of Architecture-Building Research Council. ... The Council's researchers answered many critical questions that would affect the quality of the nation's housing stock.
  • How could homes be designed and built more efficiently?
  • What kinds of construction and production techniques worked well and which did not?
  • How did people use different kinds of spaces in their homes?
  • What roles did community planning, zoning, and interior design play in how neighborhoods worked
• The Circular Staircase, Mary Roberts Rinehart
• Construction Drawings and Details, Rosemary Kilmer
• "An Example of Colonial Paneling", Norman Morrison Isham, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 5 (May, 1911), pp. 112-116, available by JSTOR.
• Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack: the lower floors of this building contained spray-on fire-proofing asbestos materials.
• "Energy Savers: Whole-House Supply Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Whole-House_Supply_Vent.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11880?print
• "Energy Savers: Whole-House Exhaust Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Whole-House_Exhaust.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11870
• "Energy Savers: Ventilation [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Ventilation.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• "Energy Savers: Natural Ventilation [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Natural_Ventilation.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• "Energy Savers: Energy Recovery Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Energy_Recovery_Venting.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11900
• "Energy Savers: Detecting Air Leaks [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Detect_Air_Leaks.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• "Energy Savers: Air Sealing [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Air_Sealing_1.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• Falls and Related Injuries: Slips, Trips, Missteps, and Their Consequences, Lawyers & Judges Publishing, (June 2002), ISBN-10: 0913875430 ISBN-13: 978-0913875438
  "Falls in the home and public places are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States, but are overlooked in most literature. This book is unique in that it is entirely devoted to falls. Of use to primary care physicians, nurses, insurance adjusters, architects, writers of building codes, attorneys, or anyone who cares for the elderly, this book will tell you how, why, and when people will likely fall, what most likely will be injured, and how such injuries come about. "
• Fiberglass: Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Health Concerns About Airborne Fiberglass: Fiberglass in Indoor Air from HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
• Humidity: What indoor humidity should we maintain in order to avoid a mold problem?
• Lighting, proper use of: proper aiming of a good flashlight can disclose hard to see but toxic light or white mold colonies on walls.
• Nogging: See this photo of exposed bricks on a building exterior on a building exterior in Canada. [Thanks to Carson Dunlop, Toronto - see References below].
• Pergo AB, division of Perstorp AB, is a Swedish manufacturer or modern laminate flooring products. Information about the U.S. company can be found at http://www.pergo.com where we obtained historical data used in our discussion of the age of flooring materials in buildings.
• Piquet Wall Construction: See this photo of piquet wall construction - involving timber-framed wall construction with long top girts, diagonal timber bracing, and small diameter logs placed vertically along with concrete chinking to fill in the wall plane.
• Plank House Construction: weblog from plankhouse.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/plank-house-construction/ and where plank houses were built by native Americans, see
  Large 1:6 Scale Plank House Construction / P8094228, Photographer: Mike Meuser
  06/12/2007 documented at yurokplankhouse.com where scale model Museum quality Yurok Plank Houses are being sold to raise money for the Blue Creek - Ah Pah Traditional Yurok Village project.
• Re-Bath, tub lining products is a bath tub relining manufacturer and distributor located in Tempe, Arizona - see rebath.com
• Rubblestone Wall Filler: See this Lartigue House using exterior-exposed rubblestone filler between vertical timbers of a post and beam-framed Canadian building.
• Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Second Edition, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen,A. S. Hyde, Jon R. Abele, ISBN-13: 978-1-933264-01-1 or ISBN 10: 1-933264-01-2, available from the publisher, Lawyers ^ Judges Publishing Company,Inc., www.lawyersandjudges.com sales@lawyersandjudges.com and also from the InspectAPedia Bookstore (Amazon.com)
• The Stairway Manufacturers' Association, (877) 500-5759, provides a pictorial guide to the stair and railing portion of the International Residential Code. [copy on file as http://www.stairways.org/pdf/2006%20Stair%20IRC%20SCREEN.pdf ] -
• What Mold and Allergens Look Like: mold identification photos to help identify mold - choosing what to sample in buildings
• How to Clean Moldy Wood Framing & Sheathing How to clean/seal mold from/on exposed lumber or plywood subfloor or roof sheathing indoors - some suggestions based on our field and laboratory research
• Lighting, proper use of: proper aiming of a good flashlight can disclose hard to see but toxic light or white mold colonies on walls.
• Manufactured & Modular Homes: Modular Building Systems Association, MBSA, modularhousing.com, is a trade association promoting and providing links to contact modular builders in North America. Also see the Manufactured Home Owners Association, MHOAA, at www.mhoaa.us. The Manufactured Home Owners Association of America is a National Organization dedicated to the protection of the rights of all people living in Manufactured Housing in the United States.
• Mold spores in the Home - a Photo ID Library for detection and identification of mold allergens.
• How to Find and Test For Mold in buildings A "how to" photo and text primer on finding and choosing the right spots to test for mold in buildings
• Stuff that is not mold but is often mistaken for it - things you may not want to test. Also, not all "black mold" is toxic - here are examples of harmless black mold.
• Simple Adhesive Tape Sampling of Moldy Surfaces - how to send a mold sample to our lab
• Mold Sampling Methods in the Indoor Environment - In-depth article: detailed critique of popular mold testing methods - Is your mold test kit worth the bother?
• Mold-Resistant Building Practices, advice from an expert on how to prevent mold after a building flood and how to prevent mold growth in buildings by selection of building materials and by anti-mold construction details.
• Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen, Jon R. Abele, Alvin S. Hyde, Cindy A. LaRue, Lawyers and Judges Publishing; ISBN-10: 1933264012 ISBN-13: 978-1933264011
• Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Second Edition, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen,A. S. Hyde, Jon R. Abele, ISBN-13: 978-1-933264-01-1 or ISBN 10: 1-933264-01-2, available from the publisher, Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company,Inc., www.lawyersandjudges.com sales@lawyersandjudges.com and also from the InspectAPedia Bookstore (Amazon.com)
• Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
• The Staircase, Ann Rinaldi
  
• Common Sense Stairbuilding and Handrailing, Fred T. Hodgson
• The Art of Staircases, Pilar Chueca
• Building Stairs, by pros for pros, Andy Engel
• A Simplified Guide to Custom Stairbuilding, George R. Christina
• Basic Stairbuilding, Scott Schuttner
  
• The Staircase (two volumes), John Templar, Cambridge: the MIT Press, 1992
• The Staircase: History and Theories, John Templar, MIT Press 1995
• Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
• Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
• "The Dimensions of Stairs", J. M. Fitch et al., Scientific American, October 1974.
• "The Elimination of Unsafe Guardrails, a Progress Report," Elliott O. Stephenson, Building Standards, March-April 1993
• "Are Functional Handrails Within Our Grasp" Jake Pauls, Building Standards, January-February 1991
• "Weather-Resistive Barriers [copy on file as /interiors/Weather_Resistant_Barriers_DOE.pdf ] - ", how to select and install housewrap and other types of weather resistive barriers, U.S. DOE
• Weaver: Beaver Board and Upson Board: Beaver Board and Upson Board: History and Conservation of Early Wallboard, Shelby Weaver, APT Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 2/3 (1997), pp. 71-78, Association for Preservation Technology International (APT), available online at JSTOR.
• What Style Is It?: A Guide to American Architecture, Rev., John C. Poppeliers, S. Allen Chambers, Wiley; Rev Sub edition (October 6, 2003), ISBN-10: 0471250368, ISBN-13: 978-0471250364
• ...