Sustainable North

From the US Dept. of Energy: The size of new U.S. single-family homes completed in 2009 declined, dropping to a nationwide average of 2,438 square feet and reversing trend of the past three decades, according to a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). New single-family homes were almost 100 square feet smaller in 2009 than [...]

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From Thedailygreen.com: When you think of sustainable dining, you probably don’t think of fast-food restaurants like Subway, Starbucks and Chipotle. And yet, these fast food chains are some of the few who have successfully pursued LEED certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is an internationally recognized third-party certification that a [...]

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From The Anchorage Daily News, Friday, July 23, 2010: Thanks to clever marketers, if I said I had a problem with ED, you might immediately have an idea what I’m talking about. But I have a problem with EE. It’s no cause for embarrassment — EE is a great thing. EE can save you money, [...]

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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: My home is starting to settle a little bit. What advice can you give on leveling a house? What is [...]

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From treehugger.com: Low-tech Magazine, consistently highlighting how age-old low-tech solutions are thoroughly applicable in creating a more eco-friendly world, serves as a useful antidote to the usual high-tech hubris that infects much of the new green deal talk. A recent post on the newly established Traditional Knowledge Inventory is no exception. Though not fully fleshed [...]

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From The Tundra Drums, Wednesday, July 7, 2010: The “river loggers” who float driftwood down the Yukon River for heating have a new use for their big bundles: a seafood company that hopes to show housing agencies it can build low-cost homes with local materials. The Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association buys the logs and [...]

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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: A lot of people are participating in the rebate program to make their home more energy efficient. I was under [...]

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From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Monday, June 5, 2010: Everyone in Fairbanks knows summer is when the ground thaws and your bones warm. But it’s also the season when your walls dry by shedding moisture deposited in the wall cavity during the winter. When walls warm in the sun, built-up water vapor wants to go [...]

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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: What are my options for eco-friendly decking? In today’s market, the selection of decking materials is vast and can be [...]

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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 [...]

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