Sustainable North

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, July 1, 2010:

The state is readying a new borrowing program that some municipal governments have shown an interest in tapping to improve energy-efficiency at public buildings.

The Alaska Housing Finance Corp. said the program — an account for governments and the university system to borrow for energy-efficiency remodeling — should open by October. The corporation is collecting public comment through July 7 on regulations behind the plan, a spinoff from a federal stimulus grant that would model broader programs seen around the country.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” said Bryan Butcher, a spokesman for the housing corporation, citing successful precedent elsewhere. “We think it’s really going to play a substantial role in reducing energy (costs) in the state as well as producing jobs.”