Warming To The Concept

By K. Schipper

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Most of the time when a building client talks about serving as designer and contractor, people in the trades shake their heads and walk away.

The Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC) and its Research and Testing Facility (RTF), though, is anything but a normal project.

At the opening of the state-of-the-art facility in late September, members of the public stood in line for hours to talk about one of its major stone components: a 12,000-lbs masonry heater, which is the building’s centerpiece.

Click photo to enlargeHowever, use of other natural stone, including granite and slate, in the facility adds to the structure’s good looks, as well as its energy-efficiency at it seeks LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification from the Washington-based U.S. Green Building Council.

MAKING AN INVESTMENT

Certainly the client for this project is a little out of the ordinary. The CCHRC is a private, non-profit organization founded by the Alaska State Home Builders Association.

“Our original founders were all contractors in this state, and our primary support is from the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., a state-owned housing finance corporation,” explains Jack Hebert, CCHRC president and CEO, and the owner of locally based Hebert Homes/Taiga Woodcraft. “They invest back into the state, and this is one of the things they’ve chosen to support.”

Until the RTF opened, the CCHRC operated out of a small office in downtown Fairbanks. However, early on, the need for a building became evident. Hebert says the CCHRC is anxious to look at building products and processes now on the market, determine what’s working and what’s not, and even develop new products.

“We needed room for our field research,” he says. “There’s a tremendous variety of extreme climates here in Alaska.

“We have everything from places with temperatures similar to northern Minnesota that get 200” of rain a year, to those that have less than 6” of precipitation and take five times the heating degrees that northern Minnesota does – and everything in between. In all those climates, there are people living with challenges related to shelter.”

While Hebert stresses the organization’s focus on real-world solutions, the new building is located on two-and-a-half acres of leased land on the University of Alaska-Fairbanks campus, which provides its own benefits.

“The proximity to the university provides us with a valuable resource in people who can do the applied research we identify,” he says.

Because of its membership, Hebert says designing and building the 15,000 ft², two-story building was considerably easier than raising the $5.2 million it ultimately cost. A number of financial options were considered, but the organization didn’t want to carry a mortgage.Click photo to enlarge

Along with the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., other contributors to the building include several foundations, companies such as Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., Dow/Corning, DuPont and Johns Manville, as well as the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural and Community Development Division, and the state of Alaska.

“Designing the building was not something unusual for our design team,” says Hebert. “For instance, the chairman of our board is a licensed architect in Anchorage, and we utilized the input of a number of people from the design community around here through a charette (design exercise).”  

DESIGNING FROM EXPERIENCE

The end result is a building that incorporates both what Hebert calls, “the cutting edge of Alaska,” and tried-and-true processes that, from its earlier research, proved to be best for the Fairbanks climate.

The masonry heater that serves as the focal point of the building’s ground- floor entry and lobby area definitely falls in the latter category, improving on technology that dates back centuries.

 “We’re fascinated with the masonry heaters and the possibility of using that kind of a unit for heating homes,” says Hebert. “The burn is very clean, they’re very safe, and they provide a nice, even, steady heat.”