Energy Efficiency in Homer, Alaska

Local Resources

Check out the locally made Nomad Yurts for truly low-impact living.
If you are into using the most local, renewable, and least toxic materials in your home or business, check out the material choices at the Homer Public Library, Homer's first LEED certified building
Rolling Shutters are the best way to insulate windows from the cold. Check out the different styles offered by Bill Hartline, the Tuscon Rolling Shutters vendor up in Kenai. He may not come down just to chat, but he will come down for a sale or for several jobs, so give him a call and find out when he's coming down: 394-8856.
Energy Auditors Make sure your home is as efficient as it can be. Get an energy audit done and check out the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation funding to help you pay for the audit and for the weatherization upgrades.

Energy Auditors

Bill Steyer - Fusion Designs. Also does business audits. Call 399-1078 or email: steyerbill@yahoo.com
Jim Nelson - Nelson Energy Ways LLC. Call 235-6524 or e-mail: alaskayerway@yahoo.com
Ted Veal - Call 235-7461 or email tveal@xyz.net
Robert Moss - Wisdom & Associates. Call 907-283-0629 or e-mail rmoss@alaska.com
John Wooodward - Building Performance. Call 907-229-2372 or e-mail Panuktuk@yahoo.com

Contractors

We have some very talented, amazing contractors in Homer who have built some extremely energy efficient housing including techniques such as remote wall construction, wall joists, thermal mass, and much more.

Dave Ellington
Paul Carter
Dave Stutzer

State-wide Resources

Alaska Building Science News is a quarterly publication out of Fairbanks with great articles on building techniques for quality housing with high energy efficiency and longevity.
Cold Climate Housing Research Center is also in Fairbanks
Everything you need to know about your home from the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation on: appliances, heating, lighting, water heating, ventilation, mold, ice dams, moisture on windows, weatherizing, insulation air sealing, home improvement and remodeling, new homes, renewable energy: solar, wind, micro-hydro, etc.

Other Resources

Learn what architects are looking to accomplish with the 2030 Challenge.
See the highest standards for green buildings in the industry: Living Buildings
Learn about the different levels of LEED ratings offered by the US. Green Building Council.
Find out new tips to make your home more energy efficient

HOMER FACT:

The 2006 Homer greenhouse gas emissions inventory conducted by the city’s Global Warming Task Force shows that 24% of community emissions come from residential buildings, while another 36% are from commercial facilities. These figures refer only to operation and maintenance, and do not include the construction process.

According to the Architecture 2030 Project, “In the year 2035, three-quarters of the built environment in the U.S. will be either new or renovated. This transformation over the next 30 years represents a historic opportunity for the architecture and building community to reverse the most significant crisis of modern time, climate change.”

In order to make a measurable impact on sustainability in Homer, we need to dramatically increase our awareness of both how we build, and what we are building with—and then start implementing changes.