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Specifications, Technical Help:
Multiple Divisions
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A
Advanced Energy
www.advancedenergy.org
Buildings, Affordable Housing Program includes final checklists for general, HVAC, framing, insulation contractors; insulation and HVAC specifications; program standards for air tightness, windows, HVAC, energy efficiency; plan review input form. Knowledge Library includes articles on construction process, crawl spaces, indoor air quality, insulation, framing, heating and cooling, insulation, windows.
American Society of Landscape Architects
www.asla.org
Registered users can browse ASLA CADdetails Library by company or product and view product pictures, specifications and CAD drawings.
Architectural Graphic Standards Online
www.graphicstandards.com
Registered users can browse table of contents and view product demo. Subscribers can access full text of the standards, including architectural details, descriptions, drawings and downloadable CAD files.
Ask the Builder
www.askthebuilder.com
Web site for the radio talk show "Ask the Builder." Contains database of home improvement and remodeling tips from radio broadcasts and library of past columns, both by type of remodeling job or on a query. Can subscribe to receive online newsletter, a semi-monthly compilation of home repair and remodeling tips.
B
B4UBUILD.COM
www.b4ubuild.com
Residential construction information site. Describes the homebuilding process, including research, pre-construction, site work, foundations, framing, rough-in, interior finishes, exterior finishes and landscaping. Includes database of home plans organized by home style, photos, contract specifications, Q&As, cost estimates, generic homebuilding contract summary, sample residential construction schedule and contractor selection tips. Offers books and videos for sale. Provides links to associations, contractors, manufacturers, suppliers and other online resources for residential construction.
Better Homes and Gardens Home Improvement
www.bhg.com/home-improvement/
Contains online database of home improvement, remodeling repair tips and instructions organized by type of work and subtopics in each category. Each tip includes index of project stages and jobs, estimated time, tools, materials and skills necessary to accomplish it and link to reference books related to the topic. Includes project calculator that estimates the amount of materials needed for different types of projects. Contains link to database of home plans and other Better Homes and Gardens Resources.
BlockCreator
www.blockcreator.com
Subscription-based library of downloadable CAD drawings. Members can download drawings of architectural details organized by CSI MasterFormat and drawings for bolts; cabinet hardware; appliances; civil engineering design; electrical systems; HVAC systems; kitchens and baths; moldings; pipe; plumbing; steel; structural design; tile; valves; welds.
Building Science Corporation
www.buildingscience.com
Includes house design recommendations by climate; technical articles on foundations, walls, roofs, mechanical systems, mold and other topics; publications on HVAC issues, including cycling control, controlled ventilation, heating and cooling choices, system sizing, duct leakage. Homeowner Information Resources provides building science glossary, articles on HVAC, mold, high performance house plans, basement insulation, painting, energy and green building.
Building Seismic Safety Council
www.nibs.org/index.php/bssc/
Contains full-text "NEHRP Recommended Provisions for Seismic Regulations for New Buildings and Other Structures" (FEMA 450). Can request technical assistance on a BSSC project online. Can view area maps from the National Seismic Hazard Mapping Project.
C
Civil World
www.civilworld.com
Design resources contains general design specs, including Stanford University's design standards; state Department of Transportation and local standards; links to technical journals and organizations. Drafting contains free drawings of water systems, sewer systems, valves and a water system pumping station; CAD and AutoCAD software information. Software has information on computer programs and packages related to civil engineering.
Construction Criteria Base
www.wbdg.org/ccb/
Extensive electronic library of construction guide specifications, manuals, standards, handbooks, regulations and other criteria documents, published and updated continuously. Contains the complete unabridged, approved, current electronic equivalents of more than 10,000 construction criteria documents from participating federal agencies downloadable in .pdf format. Includes "Building Envelope Design Guide," "Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers," "Unified Facilities Criteria and Guide Specifications," other specification documents.
Construction Specifications Institute
www.csinet.org
Provides MasterFormat and other technical updates. Bookstore offers specification materials and other technical documents for sale online.
ConstructionWork
www.constructionwork.com
Resources includes calculators, formulas, other technical resources for concrete, HVAC, piping, electrical, unit conversion, underground construction, timber, metals; construction glossary; crane signals; nail specifications; athletic facility construction diagrams.
ConTech Construction Products
www.contech-cpi.com
Provides technical brochures, CAD drawings, calculators, software, case studies, product data sheets, specification sheets, technical notes, organized by audience (engineers, developers, contractors) and type of application.
Contractors.com
www.contractors.com
Consumer guide to home construction and remodeling resources. Contains directories of contractors, vendors, manufacturers searchable by company name, state, city, trade, specialty. Retrieves lists of companies with contacts. Contains interactive project cost estimators; contractor hiring tips; licensing tips and links; guidelines on home maintenance, loss prevention, landscaping, costs, lien waivers, call before you dig resources, contractor ratings.
D
Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
www.eere.energy.gov
Building Technologies Program provides information about building commissioning; building siting guide; whole building design information, documents; high performance buildings database; high performance commercial building design guidelines; Performance Metrics Research Project; and examples of practices and projects for various types of buildings. Provides appliance and commercial equipment standards that include residential and commercial rulemakings, notices, reports. Includes information about emerging technologies for appliances; heating, cooling and refrigeration; lighting; walls, insulation, HVAC, roofs and foundations; and windows, glazing and doors. Provides information about Zero Energy Buildings research program, Indoor Air Quality research and other emerging technologies. Includes building energy data tools, data tables and technical reports; energy and environmental guidelines for construction; whole building design and construction checklist; and Integrated Building Design for Energy Efficiency guide. EnergySmart Schools contains energy design guidelines for high performance schools. Federal Energy Management Program provides Building Commissioning Guide; design assistance; life-cycle cost analysis tools and documents; link to Whole Building Design Guide. Office of Industrial Technologies includes best practices tools and documents.
Design-Build Institute of America
www.dbia.org
Online catalog lists technical publications available, including Design-Build Manual of Practice.
DoItYourself.com
www.doityourself.com
Contains how-to articles, tips and resources on interior and exterior repairs, remodeling projects, painting and decorating, electrical and electronics projects, gardening and outdoor projects, plumbing, HVACR.
E
e-Construct.net
www.e-construct.net
Directory of architectural, civil engineering, contractor, consulting, design, facilities management, historic preservation, landscaping, maintenance, materials, remodeling, residential, software, technology, training resources.
Energy Federation Incorporated
www.efi.org
Contains documents on energy conservation, lighting technology, HVAC; list of international electricity standards organized by region and country; product sheets for lighting fixtures, insulation, HVAC equipment.
ExpertVillage
www.expertvillage.com
Home and Garden includes how-to videos on building and remodeling, tool use and maintenance, landscaping, appliance installation, related topics.
F
Factory Mutual
www.fmglobal.com
Offers for sale property loss prevention data books and specialist data books for architects. engineers, roofing contractors and sprinkler contractors. Provides loss prevention tips and free publications.
G
Graspr, Ask the Builder
www.graspr.com/profiles/AsktheBuilder/
Ask the Builder syndicated column offers more than 200 videos on home improvement, building, maintenance topics.
H
HGTV (Home and Garden Television)
www.hgtv.com
Includes drywall, fence, paint, tile and wallpaper calculators; installation, remodeling, restoration and repair guides; interactive design assistance.
Home Addition Plus
www.homeadditionplus.com
Homebuilder Resources includes downloadable home addition bid sheets; how-tos organized by job component; home improvement e-books that can be purchased and downloaded.
Home Depot
www.homedepot.com
Know-How contains materials calculators for air conditioning cooling capacity, carpet, ceramic tile, drywall, insulation, paint, wallpaper; interactive design tools.
Home Maintenance and Repair
www.msue.msu.edu/objects/content_revision/
download.cfm/revision_id.500139/workspace_id.-4/master02.html/
Extensive collection of home maintenance articles organized alphabetically by keyword, hosted by the Michigan State University Extension Service.
Hometime.com
www.hometime.com
Online Project Advice includes home construction and improvement project guides; explanations of technical values and terms; manufacturer and supplier listings; tool safety chart; and books and videos for sale.
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IHS/Global
global.ihs.com
Online resource for obtaining U.S. engineering standards, military standards and specifications, technical information and regulations, mechanical and electrical design specifications as well as national and international standards, specifications and publications. Registered users can search document database by date, document number or title.
ImproveNet
www.improvenet.com
Provides project estimating and calculating tools, house plans, home improvement and remodeling advice, message boards.
International Code Council
www.iccsafe.org
Provides ordering information for Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards.
L
Lowe's
www.lowes.com
Project Center contains project calculators for paint, flooring, wallpaper, sheet vinyl, carpet, laminate flooring, concrete floors, insulation and concrete landscaping. How-To Library includes glossaries; interactive color and design assistance; installation, repair and replacement guides.
M
Manufactured Housing Institute
www.manufacturedhousing.org/default.asp
Technical Resources contains clearinghouse directory for existing and new installation information; technical standards for the manufactured housing industry.
N
National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE International)
www.nace.org
Materials Performance Buyers' Guide lists corrosion product companies and consultants.
National Association of Home Builders Research Center
www.toolbase.org
Contains extensive collection of documents, manuals, articles and reports organized by homebuilding topic; provides links to other online resources; and offers books, technical and reference materials for sale. TechNotes contains technical articles on design and construction issues. Users can sign up for a bi-weekly electronic newsletter that focuses on residential construction industry, particularly information technology and home building; can view news archive.
National CAD Standard
www.buildingsmartalliance.org/index.php/ncs/about/
Uniform design document system. Consists of American Institute of Architect's CAD Layer Guidelines, Construction Specification Institute's Uniform Drawing System (Modules 1-8) and the Plotting Guidelines; part of the BuildingSmartAlliance of the National Institute of Building Sciences. Provides information about National CAD Standard; FAQs; guidelines for implementing standard; user forums; ordering information; list of adopting businesses, government agencies; news; events calendar; contact information.
National Standards Systems Network
www.nssn.org
Contains databases with approved industry standards, approved international standards and approved U.S. government standards, searchable by title, document number or keyword. Can purchase standards online.
National Trust for Historic Preservation
www.nthp.org
Marketplace offers preservation publications for sale, including "Historic Building Facades Manual," "Basic Preservation Procedures," "Preservation Yellow Pages: The Complete Information Source for Homeowners, Communities and Professionals," which is the only national directory of national, state, local preservation and professional organizations. Can sign up to receive new publication notices by e-mail.
New Buildings Institute
www.newbuildings.org
Non-profit corporation that promotes energy efficiency in buildings through policy development, research, guidelines and codes. Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program provides information and reports on research on daylighting and productivity, HVAC integration, skylights and ceilings, ducting and air flow, outdoor lighting. Registered users can download Advanced Lighting Guidelines. Visitors can download lighting technical materials; Roof Insulation Guideline; high performance building specifications organized by MasterFormat division; mechanical design guidelines; Commercial Building Air Quality report; research project reports; online presentations. SkyCalc program can be downloaded to identify optimum building skylighting design and to compare net energy cost savings. eQUEST tool can be downloaded to analyze building energy use.
O
Orchard Supply Hardware
www.osh.com
Contains concrete, mortar mix, post hole and paint calculators. Can ask home improvement question online or search inquiry archive. Provides project guidance and tips by type of project.
P
Partnership for Advanced Technology in Housing
www.pathnet.org
Contains library of technical guides and reports on manufactured housing; rehabilitation; materials; disaster relief/mitigation, including builder's guides, recommended practices; "Fair Housing Act Design Manual"; Residential Structural Design Guide"; "HUD Rehabilitation Guide." Toolbox includes interactive homebuilder tools, including specification builder, durability doctor, replacement calendar, service-life predictor, energy-efficient rehabilitation advise. Tech Sets organizes information on technological advances in homebuilding, including plumbing, building envelope, HVAC, lighting, roofs. PATH Issues and Tech Practices summarize new building technologies.
Popular Mechanics
www.popularmechanics.com
Home Journal contains extensive library of home improvement, installation and repair project articles; woodworking guides; reader tips and hints; tool product reviews.
S
Southern Fried Architect
www.aecdaily.com/en/255211
Can download latest and archival issues of the monthly publication from the Construction Specifications Institute's MasterFormat Expansion Task Team.
T
ToolBase Services: The Home Building Industry's Technical Information Resource
www.toolbase.org
Resource for technical information on housing, building products, materials, new technologies and systems sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders. Contains technical articles, documents, information and links on a wide range of topics, including products, green building, design, construction, codes. Includes online bookstore, directory of building products and technologies, with manufacturer and technical information. E-News is an electronic news service for the residential construction industry on information technology and home building. Field Results provides information about technologies under evaluation and in practice. Technology Inventory indexes housing industry technological innovations alphabetically and by category. New Building Technologies contains documents, technical reports and information on technological innovations for building components. Includes green building resources; structural design guides available for sale.
U
USA Contractor Network
www.usacontractor.com
Includes topical expert Q&As and discussion boards; product information; links to industry associations, publications, online directories, schools, manufacturers, vendors and other resources organized by trade.
V
Vinyl by Design
www.vinylbydesign.com
Includes manufacturer listings and technical and specification guides to vinyl siding, roofing, windows, flooring, piping, wallcoverings, electrical components, fencing, decking and railing; and material selection surveys.
Vinyl Institute
www.vinylinfo.org
Provides information on construction uses for vinyl, including roofs, siding, pipe. Includes information about environmental attributes of vinyl; vinyl siding recycling guide; downloadable "Facts about the Environmental, Health and Safety Performance of Vinyl and Vinyl Wallcoverings"; other publications.
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