Sustainable North

ASK A BUILDER By CCHRC Staff The “Ask a Builder” series is dedicated to answering some of the many questions Fairbanks residents have about building, energy and the many other parts of home life. Q: I hear that log and concrete walls have the added benefit of “thermal mass.” How much of a difference does [...]

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From The Fairbanks Daily Newsminer, Thursday, August 19, 2010: The Cooperative Extension Service has a variety of videos and online lessons available for people looking to preserve newly harvested fish or game. Extension is offering DVDs and online information about canning basics for fish and meat. The lessons combine written, audio and video information, and [...]

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From The Daily Green, The electrics are coming! By the end of the year, at least six battery-powered vehicles will be on the U.S. market. The cars will finally go from revolving on show stands to dealer floors, and we’ll finally know if consumers mean it when they say in opinion polls that they’ll consider [...]

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From The Alaska Science Forum, Sunday, August 15, 2010: A friend says that among his most satisfying moments are those he stands contemplating his pile of firewood. He inhales the sweetness of birch, the tang of aspen and the sharp bite of spruce while he ponders the moisture wafting out of his wood. My friend [...]

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From APRN, Friday, August 13, 2010: For years, the Aleutian village of Akutan has seen the energy potential in its hot springs and fumaroles. Now, it looks like that potential might be realized. In July, work began on two exploratory wells. The first one was drilled on July 16, and it’s producing hot water at [...]

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From Capital City Weekly, Friday, August 13, 2010: The first thing you notice when you get to Rick Bellagh’s place on Shelter Island is a large creepy weather-beaten stuffed Big Bird figure with a pipe in its beak. Next to it stands a sign that reads, “Welcome to Shelter Skelter Wilderness Farm,” followed by rules [...]

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From The New York Times, Friday, August 13, 2010: The recession is lingering, and so is the unspent stimulus money that was meant to help end it. The latest example is the $3.2 billion that Congress voted in February 2009 as part of an economic stimulus package to simultaneously provide jobs and improve energy efficiency [...]

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From The Daily Green: Back-to-school time is right around the corner. Soon you’ll be bombarded with so many advertisements for notebooks, planners, pens and other supplies, it will be hard to avoid buying products – unfortunately, many of these items take a toll on the environment. So rather than running from store to store trying [...]

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ASK A BUILDER BY CCHRC STAFF The “Ask a Builder” series is dedicated to answering some of the many questions Fairbanks residents have about building, energy and the many other parts of home life. Q: Many people are fixing their old home and getting a rebate from the state. Is there still rebate money available [...]

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From The Associated Press, Thursday, August 12, 2010: Floods, fires, melting ice and feverish heat: From smoke-choked Moscow to water-soaked Pakistan and the High Arctic, the planet seems to be having a midsummer breakdown. It’s not just a portent of things to come, scientists say, but a sign of troubling climate change already under way. [...]

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