Sustainable North

From the U.S. Department of Energy website, posted 5/5/08, retrieved 1/5/09:

In 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a report that examines the technical feasibility of using wind energy to generate 20% of the nation’s electricity demand by 2030. The report, “20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy’s Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply,” includes contributions from DOE and its national laboratories, the wind industry, electric utilities, and other groups. The report examines the costs, major impacts, and challenges associated with producing 20% wind energy or 300 GW of wind generating capacity by 2030.

The report’s conclusions include:

1. Reaching 20% wind energy will require enhanced transmission infrastructure, streamlined siting and permitting regimes, improved reliability and operability of wind systems, and increased U.S. wind manufacturing capacity.
2. Achieving 20% wind energy will require the number of turbine installations to increase from approximately 2000 per year in 2006 to almost 7000 per year in 2017.
3. Integrating 20% wind energy into the grid can be done reliably for less than 0.5 cents per kWh.
4. Achieving 20 percent wind energy is not limited by the availability of raw materials.

Read the complete report, “20% Wind Energy by 2030, Increasing Wind Energy’s Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply” (PDF 9.1 MB).

From the New York Times on Friday, January 2, 2008:

But difficult debates lie ahead within the White House, between the White House and Congress, and within the Democratic Party, whose deep divisions on climate change break down along ideological and geographical lines.

The fight in November between two Democrats, Representatives John D. Dingell of Michigan and Henry A. Waxman of California, for the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee was a preview. It pitted lawmakers from auto- and coal-producing states against liberal lawmakers from California and the East Coast, Blue Dog fiscal conservatives against environmentalists, pro-business moderates against regulatory activists. Mr. Waxman, with the tacit support of the Obama camp and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, won, but narrowly.

That was just a taste of the broader and potentially more bitter fight over global warming and energy legislation, which will have profound implications for the American economy, the environment and foreign policy.

Both sides — those seeking strict enforcement of emissions limits and those concerned about higher energy costs and potential job losses — will find receptive ears in the new White House, Obama aides and outside analysts said.

Click here to read the whole article.

From the L.A. Times retrieved from latimes.com on Friday, January 2, 2009:

Al Teman has a penchant for salvage, but his Silver Lake home in no way resembles a salvage yard. Old doors are neatly stacked in storage. Antique books, magazines and other ephemera are painstakingly sorted by genre, with labels such as “Communism,” “Scientology,” “Old Menus” and “Crazy Headlines From Newspapers.” Teman, a contractor, may have clients who want new granite countertops and pristine custom cabinetry, but his own home reflects an obsession with repurposing the old.

The front gate features recycled window shutters and a found sculpture. “Everything in the house is found,” Teman says of the goods he has discovered in the trash or along the side of the road. “The stuff is there for free everywhere. You just have to find it.”

Click here to see a slide show of the home.

From the Anchorage Daily News on Thursday, January 1, 2008:

Only about 40 miles or so separate Alaska’s farms from its urban restaurants, but locally grown food remains a niche item on most menus.

That is changing, and rapidly.

This winter, at least seven Anchorage restaurants — upscale venues and crunchy cafes alike— are mostly eschewing Outside carrots, potatoes and other root vegetables. Instead, they are buying their vegetables from the Mat-Su.

Click here to read the whole story.

From the New York Times on Monday, December 29, 2008:

Call it CSI: Thermal Police — energy experts armed with mostly low-tech tools but strong sleuthing skills, finding flaws that let the air inside a house go through a full exchange with the outdoors twice an hour, instead of once every two or three hours.

Correct those flaws, and heating and cooling costs are typically cut by 20 percent to 30 percent, a saving of more than $1,000 annually in some households. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions and the strain on the national electric and gas systems are reduced.

About 140,000 houses will be weatherized with public help this year, a total that President-elect Barack Obama has promised to raise to one million, to reduce energy consumption and cut energy costs for households and taxpayers, who often absorb those costs for the poor. This would represent a historic shift in emphasis for the federal and state governments, reducing poor people’s energy bills instead of helping to pay them.

Click here to read the whole story.

From the New York Times on Friday, December 26, 2008:

In Berthold Kaufmann’s home, there is, to be fair, one radiator for emergency backup in the living room — but it is not in use. Even on the coldest nights in central Germany, Mr. Kaufmann’s new “passive house” and others of this design get all the heat and hot water they need from the amount of energy that would be needed to run a hair dryer.

“You don’t think about temperature — the house just adjusts,” said Mr. Kaufmann, watching his 2-year-old daughter, dressed in a T-shirt, tuck into her sausage in the spacious living room, whose glass doors open to a patio. His new home uses about one-twentieth the heating energy of his parents’ home of roughly the same size, he said.

Architects in many countries, in attempts to meet new energy efficiency standards like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard in the United States, are designing homes with better insulation and high-efficiency appliances, as well as tapping into alternative sources of power, like solar panels and wind turbines.

Click here to read the whole article.

From buildingGreen.com, retrieved on Tuesday, December 23, 2008:

Three of the products this year save energy, including a low-cost, solar water-heating system; a combination heating, water heating, and heat-recovery ventilation system; and a system for monitoring real-time energy (and water) use in buildings. Water saving products are represented by a line of rainwater storage tanks—the first rainwater storage equipment ever recognized in our Top-10 lists.

Fully half of the products this year are green in part because they are made from natural, rapidly renewable, or agricultural waste materials; natural materials often require significantly less energy to manufacture. A new compressed-earth masonry block is particularly noteworthy in this regard. “Most of the Top-10 products this year have multiple environmental attributes,” said Wilson.

Click here to read the whole article.

Another posting from Fairbanks homeowners Rocky Reifenstuhl and Gail Koepf.

There are many things to consider once you have decided to build, starting with location. 

Assess the neighborhood, covenants and surrounding properties.  What utilities are available?  Is it on a bus route or within an easy commute to your job?  Does view potential play a role?  What about sun exposure?  Good sun exposure can have a significant beneficial impact on your heating costs using passive solar building practices.   It can also open up a variety of solar thermal and power options that would not be possible in shaded locations.

Permafrost is another issue and can be a double edged sword to the unaware.  The land may be much more reasonably priced, but often those costs are offset by the costs of building a system that is capable of withstanding the unstable soil conditions year after year.  Roadwork, septic systems, and water supplies will also need special attention in regards to permafrost soils.  Minimal site disturbance is the standard approach to keeping frozen soils stable, consequently clearing areas for roads, gardens, and sun exposure, can have disasterous effects.    Be absolutely clear on every detail of how you are going to build on frozen ground and the associated costs before you commit to buying the land.   “Figuring it out later” can be a recipe for disaster.  A soils boring and assessment may seem expensive but a professional analysis can save a lot of future heartache.

 Gail Koepf and Rocky Reifenstuhl, Fairbanks, Alaska homeowners, are building a new home using sustainable, energy efficient techniques. CCHRC staff are filming aspects of the construction for use in a future “Best Practices” video about homebuilding in the North. We will continue to post entries as their work progresses.

Another posting from Fairbanks homeowners Rocky Reifenstuhl and Gail Koepf.

To Build or Not to Build, that is the Question.  If you have to ask that question, you should probably stop reading here & hire a realtor.  The amount of time and energy involved in building your house can be tremendous, and that cost must not be marginalized if you are attempting to judge building vs buying strictly in terms of the perceived dollar savings.

Another consideration is the fact that most of Alaska has a rather limited housing market.  If you are lucky enough to be looking when there are a lot of houses on the market, you might be inclined to think, (as has been said about another market in Alaska), “the odds are good, but the goods are odd.”  There is a lot of unusual and sub-standard housing up here.  Consequently, if  you are considering buying anything, an inspection by a reputable independent home inspector or engineer is money well spent. 

However, if you can find a house that even approximates what you are looking for, by all means snap it up and remodel if necessary.  Moving is a huge job in itself and if you have a house to sell that is an additional time and energy sink.  Think about what level of stress you want to add to your life.  Building is not a pretty process in a place where there is very limited time between when you can break ground and when it freezes up again, along with the tools and hands of the builders.

 I hope to have a sustainable, energy efficient, small home when I am done, but I can’t even pretend there is much else green about the process.  Like most other things in life, compromise is necessary.  I could have built greener & smaller, but I wanted to make the home comfortable enough that others would consider taking some of the steps I have.  Going green is a gradual process, but we all should start somewhere.

 Gail Koepf and Rocky Reifenstuhl, Fairbanks, Alaska homeowners, are building a new home using sustainable, energy efficient techniques. CCHRC staff are filming aspects of the construction for use in a future “Best Practices” video about homebuilding in the North. We will continue to post entries as their work progresses.

Another posting from Fairbanks homeowners Rocky Reifenstuhl and Gail Koepf.

There seems to be something about the selection process regarding those who are drawn to Alaska and settle here, that gives them the drive to design and build their own home in a place where shelter is so critical for survival.  There have certainly been failures, particularly in light of the extreme conditions, but discouraging results are part of the process here, not the end.

One can learn a lot from failure, and rising to a challenge seems part of human nature, the end result being that there is always a next time.   Fortunately there are many great resources to draw from in the circumpolar north, along with a lot of local talent in the homebuilding industry.  The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) continues to fund housing research and home owner incentives directed towards safe, durable and energy efficient home construction. The Alaska Cooperative Extension Service  (CES) has gathered much information regarding energy efficient housing that is available to the public.    The University of Alaska has multiple engineering and research departments whose work contributes to improving our understanding of building science.  The Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC) is specifically researching many aspects of residential construction particular to Alaska’s climate.  Their publications and staff can provide a lot of worthwhile information to those who are out there pounding nails. 

 Gail Koepf and Rocky Reifenstuhl, Fairbanks, Alaska homeowners, are building a new home using sustainable, energy efficient techniques. CCHRC staff are filming aspects of the construction for use in a future “Best Practices” video about homebuilding in the North. We will continue to post entries as their work progresses.