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Nowhere in the country is energy planning and
conservation more important than in the Arctic. It would be hard to
overestimate the seriousness of the energy situation in the Borough
villages, where the chill factor can be as low as -100 degrees E and
the fuel costs for a single residence can be as high as $5,000 a
year. Coupled with the sub-standard housing and low per-capita
incomes which still prevail in many parts of the Arctic, the rising
costs of fuel have created a major crisis in the North.
Like other regional districts throughout the U.S., the
people of the North Slope Borough have taken the initiative in
planning for efficient energy use and long-term supplies. As in other
areas, experimentation and diversification of energy supplies has
been encouraged. In Borough-related projects, new standards of
conservation have been set. The Borough has initiated plans in all
the villages also to bring private residences up to energy codes.
The NSB is one of the first local governments in the
state with formally adopted energy policies and successful funded
energy-saving programs. In other parts of the state, some 30% of
those who have state-funded energy audits have implemented the
recommendations. In the NSB, the percentage has been 100%, mainly due
to the impact of the Borough programs and high level of community
support.
The
Borough's commitment to energy conservation began in the
administration of the late Eben Hopson, Sr. Borough energy planning
consultant Earl Finkler, now with Construction Systems Management
(CSM), remembers sitting around a table with Hopson and Finance
Director Lloyd Ahvakana and talking about the traditional Inupiat
concern about energy use and conservation. It was Hopson's wish that
the young especially would be made aware of the old practices and
values.
As a result of that concern, the then Planning
Director Herb Bartel, Borough Utility Director Kent Grinage, and
Finkler prepared the first study on residential energy conservation.
Questions were asked on how much it would cost to retrofit all the
houses and where the funds would come from. Local hire for the work
was discussed as well as the development of alternative energy
resources.
The
Borough commitment to energy efficiency was formalized in February,
1981, when the NSB Assembly passed a resolution endorsing Mayor
Adams' twelve energy policies on local energy resource management,
energy conservation, and alternative development. Those NSB energy
policies (see box) included plans for seeking federal and state
energy assistance and the need to lower fuel costs in the villages
where the NSB operates the utilities and where energy costs are
astronomical.
When Eugene Brewer became Mayor in the Fall of 1981,
he gave his full support to the energy policies of the Adams
administration. By the beginning of 1982, the Residential Energy
Program in Anaktuvuk Pass, Nuiqsut, and Wainwright were well under
way and plans were being laid for similar programs for the other
villages. A wind-generator system was being designed for the new
Kaktovik Community Building, with full community participation. Coal
studies and demonstrations were underway in Wainwright and Atqasuk.
Waste heat recovery for the production of additional electricity and
building heat has been planned for the Barrow power plant.
The NSB Utility Department by now had its own
state-certified energy auditor and planner, Johnny Adams, who
personally supervised many of the energy audits, translated for other
auditors, and helped demonstrate residential energy-saving practices.
In July , 1981, the NSB Assembly approved a separate CIP item for
energy conservation projects.
In
October, 1982, Heat Loss Analysis and CSM of Anchorage presented a
report to the Borough on the completed Anaktuvuk Pass Residential
Energy Program, The report stated that people in the village now pay
a minimum of 15 percent and more of their annual income for fuel and
electricity. Heating costs are at least 10 times higher than they are
in Barrow, where gas from nearby fields is sold by the government to
Barrow Utilities and Electric Company for local use.
Utilizing funds available from the State's residential
energy conservation program, and utilizing the services of Heat Loss
Analysis in conducting the audits and CSM in supervising the
retrofits, the Borough program in Anaktuvuk Pass--the first project
completed--produced the following results:
1. 100 percent implementation of
energy audits.
2. Over $21,000 paid to local hire
retrofit crews.
3. Extensive community education in
energy conservation.
4. Three-year payback period for
the project, after which Total Cost
$118,500
State Reimbursement
38,000
NSB Contribution
80,500
The savings will
be:
First-year savings
$ 14,000
Ten-year savings
236,000
Similar figures are projected
for the programs in the other villages. 1. The $300 state limit for
conservation retrofits is unrealistically low for rural
applications. Every effort should be made to make the state
realize that the Rural Energy Conservation Program can be of
great benefit, but only if it receives adequate
funding.
2. The Anaktuvuk Pass project
should be followed up with ongoing maintenance programs and
periodic reevaluations of residential energy status.
3. There should be public funding
for a series of Native-language energy conservation
education programs.
4. The NSB should consider higher
thermal standards for new construction and thermal retrofit
goals for existing housing.
energy saved will be free for the life of the
building.
the project
was distributed
in this way:
Among the conclusions of the study are the following
recommendations:
Johnny Adams talked about some of the problems in
retrofitting in the Anaktuvuk Pass project:
Many
of the older houses built some fifteen years ago were disastrous.
Fifteen to twenty years ago there was no airport and not even a store
to buy proper materials to make a house energy efficient... Some
built slab-on-grade 2X4 floors, wall, and ceilings which gives it a
R-ll insulation value all around. The present H.U.D. standards are
R-38 ceiling, R-19 walls, and R-19 floors. To make proper adjustments
means a whole new shell around the house. A few are still occupied
which are like that. I believe that even weatherstripping and
caulking wouldn't make any changes in 2X4 R-ll insulated
houses.
Early in the project, it became evident that the criteria for the state sponsored audits and many of the questions on the forms were meant for urban, not rural situations. As Adams commented, "it became a concern to develop a format for rural areas to simplify the matters, but no one seems to have a reasonable answer except to omit those questions not applicable."
As the late Eben Hopson had planned, the knowledge of the village elders occupied an important position in the Borough conservation program. Johnny Adams emphasized the importance of communicating in Inupiat during the energy audit. "Knowing that communication is most important to understand our project," he said, "1 find that speaking Inupiat greatly influenced our program. Once you get across to the people about our project, the easier it gets on the energy audits. They will pinpoint every place that gets cold or that has cold drafts. Some of the residents were using caribou skins for weatherstripping around their doors. It provided a good sealant around the whole door."
Even more central to the program is the knowledge of the elders about old conservation practices. Of most interest are the descriptions of the old sod-houses used in traditional times, which were highly energy-efficient. Ernest Kignak, a Barrow elder, was interviewed by Johnny Adams for a story about the sod house which was published in one of the Borough project reports. Several builders and planners are carefully studying different features of the sod house which may be included in new designs, such as the cold-trap entrance, the use of skylights instead of windows, and important exhaust vents for eliminating excess moisture buildup. The engineering of these old sod houses, which were comfortably heated by one or two seal lamps, have important lessons for today's energy users and planners.
As energy costs continue to mount for the residents of America's Arctic, the Borough's energy conservation programs have taken on a new importance. The Borough Assembly is presently considering ways to bring the residential energy audit program to the other villages. "We have set higher thermal standards for new housing," Mayor Brewer remarked. "There is no going back now. We won't stop until energy-efficient housing is made available to every family in the Borough."