RJ Karg Associates

Selected Papers
(All papers are by R. Karg unless otherwise noted)

Weatherization Standards
• New Mexico Energy$mart Technical Standards, January 2012.
• Midwest Weatherization Best Practices Field Guide (234 pages, 5 MB), with Paul Knight and Don Jones, July 2005.
• Maine Weatherization Standards, January 2005.
• Maine Weatherization Standards, 2012.
• New Hampshire Weatherization Standards, March 2005.
• North Dakota Weatherization Field Standards, January 2003.
     • Worst-case draft testing form
     • Diagnostics form
     • Heating system form
     • House estimate form
• West Virginia Weatherization Field Standards, March 2009.
• West Virginia Weatherization Field Standards, March 2012.

Home Performance Standards
• Technical Standards for the Maine Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program, 2008, with Tom Boothby and Heather Rae.

Weatherization Training and Evaluation
• One-on-One On-Site (O4S) Training Project for the Low-Income Weatherization Program, DOE Boston Region, Phase 1 (2004) and Phase 2 (2005).
• Ohio Home Weatherization Assistance Program Training Evaluation under contract with Quantec, LLC for the Ohio Department of Development, Office of Energy Efficiency, by R. Karg; A. Lee, Ph.D.; and M. S. Khawaja, Ph.D., June 2, 2006.

Cellulose Insulation Density
• Cellulose core sampling kit materials list and instructions for use, including core sampling chart, June 2007.
• Wall Insulation Density Calculation Forms, 2003.
• Wall Insulation Experiments with Cellulose, October 2003.
• Sidewall Blowing Tips and Tricks, Bob Pfeiffer, Tom Wilson, and Jim Fitzgerald, 2003.
• Siding Removal and Wall Insulation Techniques, handout for a presentation by Chris Allwein and Dennis Biddle, April, 2002.
• Insulation Density Test Cases (coming soon).

Terminology
• As a trainer and technical writer for the last 25 years, I have become very aware of the importance of using standardized terminology and definitions. I have found this to be especially important in the field of combustion appliances, venting, and combustion safety testing. I have put together a list of terms with some illustrations that I hope will help bring uniformity and enhance communication: Standardized Terminology for Combustion Appliances and Combustion Safety Testing. I welcome suggestions regarding this document.

Carbon Monoxide
• “Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Gas Ranges and the Development of a Field Protocol for Measuring CO Emissions,” (for sections of Karg's chapter), Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, ed. David Penney, PhD, CRC Press, November 2007.
• CO Testing for the Real World, Home Energy, January/February 2002, pages 30-33.
• Proposed Field Protocol for Gas Range Carbon Monoxide Emissions Testing, July 2001. Annotated version, July 2001.
• Air-Free Measurement of Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Gas Ranges: Analysis and Suggested Field Procedure, October 1998.
• Variation of Carbon Monoxide Readings from Two Propane Range-Top Burners, May 1998.

Energy Standards
• Maine Guide to Energy Efficient Residential Construction: A Manual of Accepted Practices, 2nd (1997), 3rd (2002), and 4th (2006) editions, Maine Public Utilities Commission.

Under contract with the Maine State Planning Office, Karg wrote the following:
• Maine Residential Energy Standard, May 2002.
• Maine Residential Energy Standard, one-page overview, May 2002.
• Economic Analysis for Maine Residential Energy Standard, May 2002.
• Market Strategies for the Maine Residential Energy Standard, April 2002.

Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation
• Guideline 24-2015, Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings, primary editor for the revision of this indoor air quality and ventilation document. Available at www.ashrae.org website.
• Quick Guide to ASHRAE 62.2, May 2005, for Maine Public Utilities Commission.
• Survey of Tightness Limits for Residential Buildings, July 2001.
• Indoor Air Quality and Your Health, 1988, New England Electric System.
• Indoor Air Quality and Your Health, 1986, Maine Office of Energy Resources.

Building Science
• Estimating the Latent Heating Load Resulting from the Curing and Drying of Construction Materials, September 1988, Proceedings from the International Symposium Energy Options for the Year 2000: Contemporary Concepts in Technology and Policy, September 14-17, 1988, Volume 3, pages 3.153-3.164, Center for Energy and Urban Policy Research, University of Delaware.

• Zone Pressure Diagnostics charts and spreadsheet by Anthony Cox and Collin Olson, 2006.
     • Flow method House to Zone, PDF chart
     • Flow method Zone to Outdoors, PDF chart
     • Door method House to Garage (zone), PDF chart
     • Door method Garage (zone) to Outdoors, PDF chart
     • Flow and Door methods, Excel spreadsheet

• Depressurization Tightness Limit (DTL) charts from Maine Weatherization Program, 2012, by Tae Chong and Rick Karg. For the necessary vented combustion appliance depressurization limits, please see Table 1 in Standardized Terminology for Combustion Appliances and Combustion Safety Testing.
     • DTL chart by Chong and Karg, PDF chart
     • DTL chart by Chong and Karg, example, PDF chart
     • DTL chart by Karg, JPG chart

Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
• Specification of Energy Efficient Installation and Maintenance Practices for Residential HVAC Systems, with John Krigger for the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, Inc., Boston, MA, January 2000. Sorry, this document is now out of print and no longer available on the web.

Psychology of Energy Behavior
• The Soft Audit, Energy Auditor and Retrofitter (Home Energy), July/August, 1987, pages 30 - 33. This classic article has recently (2011) be rediscovered and read by hundreds of home performance personnel.