Sustainable North

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 [...]

[Read more →]

From Yale Environment 360, retrieved on Friday, December 20, 2008: Yale Environment 360 asked a wide-ranging group of environmental activists, scientists, and thinkers to answer the following question: If you were advising Barack Obama, what would you tell him are the most important environmental and energy initiatives that he should launch during his first 100 days? [...]

[Read more →]

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. The following is the first entry from Gail’s ongoing journal about the project. We will continue [...]

[Read more →]

From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, on Saturday, December 6, 2008: In early winter 2008, Fairbanks [Alaska] has had some of the worst air quality ever recorded, according to Jim Conner, an air quality specialist for the Fairbanks North Star Borough. “We exceeded (federal air quality) standards in October this year for the first time,” Conner [...]

[Read more →]

From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Monday, December 15, 2008: The silver disc in the electric meter box has been turning a little faster for a little longer as the days have shortened and the lights, televisions and computers have been put to greater use in our homes. The extra spins of the disc haven’t meant [...]

[Read more →]

From change.org, retrieved on Friday, December 12, 2008: The energy challenges our country faces are severe and have gone unaddressed for far too long. Our addiction to foreign oil doesn’t just undermine our national security and wreak havoc on our environment — it cripples our economy and strains the budgets of working families all across [...]

[Read more →]

From the New York Times, on Wednesday, December 3, 2008: President-elect Barack Obama and leaders in Congress are fashioning a plan to pour billions of dollars into a jobs program to jolt the economy and lay the groundwork for a more energy-efficient one. The details and cost of the so-called green-jobs program are still unclear, but a [...]

[Read more →]

From www.change.gov, retrieved on Thursday, November 20, 2008: The energy challenges our country faces are severe and have gone unaddressed for far too long. Our addiction to foreign oil doesn’t just undermine our national security and wreak havoc on our environment — it cripples our economy and strains the budgets of working families all across [...]

[Read more →]

From the website “Solar House, Solar Home,” retrieved on 11/11/08: Just after January 1, 2000, I left the 20th Century and I haven’t been back since. If your attention is rooted in the 21st Century, you only need your eyes and ears to understand that energy efficiency and sustainability will be the unfolding story of [...]

[Read more →]

From the New York Times, on Friday, November 7, 2008: Last month, Senator Barack Obama became — as far as we know — the first nominee to urge Americans to “weatherize your home” in a presidential debate. With winter coming and Mr. Obama headed to the White House, it may be a good time to [...]

[Read more →]