Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- Margaret Subers, 43, built a solar-powered home 23 years ago in Arizona. Now, she and her husband, Brad Subers, 50, are building a home here that will depend partially on sun for power.

This time, however, she faces a few extra challenges -- namely that they are building in Alaska. And just to complicate things, the lot they fell in love with is in the Butte, where looming Pioneer Peak keeps their property in shadow pretty much from Halloween to Valentine's Day.

Subers said she and her husband plan to install solar panels to catch sun between March and September and a wind turbine to make power from the wind that whistles through the Knik River valley. They are also relying on the sun to help heat the water that will be circulated through pipes in their floor, providing radiant heat.

But this time around, Subers said, her big focus is insulation.

"You have to build so you don't use very much energy. You build the house really tight, really well insulated," she said.

Outside the building, her walls have 8 inches of foam to stop heat loss, which happens wherever wall timbers touch the outside siding. Subers said their 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom home has an R-value of about 60.

R values indicate thermal resistance, or how much heat a given material conducts. A high number means less heat is lost. Six-inch walls in Alaska are typically insulated with fiberglass rated between R-19 to R-21.

The Butte home is one of a handful on a free, open-house tour this Saturday. About 30 homes around the state are participating in an open house on the same day, under the umbrella "Alaska Solar Tour."

It's a first-ever event sponsored by the Alaska Center for Appropriate Technology, which also sponsors the "Bioneers in Alaska" conference in the fall. Center president Phillip St. John said the tour is part of the National Solar Tour. Its aim, he said, is to promote individuals' use of renewable resources.

"We want the public to know renewable energy is here today and now, and there's really people out there doing it. Their neighbors are doing it," he said.

Subers works with Alaska Community Development Corporation as a weatherization assessor, where she helps people figure out how to make their homes more energy efficient.

The house she and her husband are building is based on techniques recommended by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cold Climate Housing Research Center. She said their home will include sensors to monitor temperature and humidity inside the walls, with information being sent to the Research Center.

"They don't have a house in a region like the Butte," she said.

Subers said the house will be so air-tight they will install a heat recovery ventilator to circulate fresh air indoors and remove warm, moist air from kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms.

But all that insulation pays off in low heating bills. Dave and Karen Jones have a similarly insulated, though larger, home south of Wasilla with in-floor radiant heat. The water circulating in the in-floor pipes is heated by the sun. A set of solar panels on the roof assists in heating the water above 100 degrees in summer. The water is then piped into different zones, where it warms the floors. Jones said on sunny summer days, the water heats up to 160 degrees or higher.

Jones and his wife are still building their house, although most of the work now is on the interior. He said he doesn't have a running calculation of costs. Installing the energy-efficient and energy-saving features was costly, but there's satisfaction in being less dependent on fossil fuels -- and in not having to fork out so much money each month. The couple's bill for gas this summer ran less than $1 -- that's before service fees were tacked on, which brought the total bill to $10.

"Everything was expensive, but every time we get our Enstar bill, we can't help but laugh," he said.

Jones and his wife took full advantage of their sunny location. The house faces south and incorporates passive solar heat. They encased the exterior of the house in 6 inches of foam and then nailed on metal siding because they like the look and durability. They bought energy-efficient appliances and a direct-current well pump for efficiency and durability.

Their choices were made with an eye to the future, Jones said. He and his wife are nearing retirement. They want to live lightly, but aren't willing to be uncomfortable or take on a long chore list to maintain their home. "It's going to look like a normal house as you're walking in. There's not anything weird on the inside, other than we're going to use LEDs and every appliance is high in energy efficiency," he said. "We're not making any concessions."

North of Palmer, a handful of homeowners in the Buffalo Mine area rejected the opportunity to get a monthly electrical bill.

House Speaker John Harris in 2008 included legislation that would have paid to extend electrical lines in the Alaskan Beauty subdivision there, using state funding.

The funding was later vetoed, but homeowner Pete Praetorius said several residents had already invested in solar panels and other energy-making equipment and weren't interested in connecting. He said he, for one, prefers to be free of the cost -- and burden -- associated with paying for electricity.

Take the tour

About 30 homes around the state are participating in Saturday's solar tour, including homes in Nome, Fairbanks, Homer, Anchorage and Mat-Su. Find maps or read more about people's innovations. www.alaskasolartour.org

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