They say necessity is the mother of all invention, so it should come as no surprise that an Alaskan has built arguably the tightest house in the world. The home, deemed the world's tightest by the World Record Academy, can be found in Dillingham, a town of about 2,300 in Southwest Alaska, where it precipitates more than half the time, has temperatures dipping into the single digits for much of the winter and heating fuel prices hovering just below $6 a gallon.
You won't find any big picture windows, but that's OK with Tom Marsik and his wife, Kristin Donaldson, who have spent the past two years building the home. What you find instead is a home with the lowest air exchanges per hour rating ever recorded and publicized. The air in their home exchanges at a rate of .05 air changes per hour.
The home has been held up as an example of what energy efficient construction techniques could do to lower the astronomical cost of heating homes in rural Alaska. While many communities wrestle with the economic constraints of high energy costs, Marsik, an assistant professor of sustainable energy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Bristol Bay Campus, used his knowledge about energy efficient homes to build his own.
The 600-square-foot home has 28-inch walls rated at R90 and the ceiling is R140. Add to that, an extremely well-sealed vapor barrier and an air exchange system that stores the heat from exiting air and uses it to warm the air coming back in, and you have all the makings of the world's tightest house, not to mention a small heating bill.
For frigid 2012, the couple paid around $900 to heat, run and light their home. Most of the energy needed to heat their home came as a byproduct from lighting and appliances as well as passive solar gain and body heat. To heat the home with heating oil would have taken about 35 gallons annually, Marsik estimates.
Trying for the world record was just another way of bringing attention to the importance of energy efficiency in buildings, as well as in general.
"I believe energy is one of the most important issues in today's world and energy efficiency is a key part of the solution," said Marsik. "The more awareness we can raise, the more people will be encouraged to save energy and resources for future generations."
The rating was taken on March 6 and witnessed by Dillingham City Mayor Alice Ruby. Building Analyst Professional Gorden Isaacs performed the test, which had to use a special piece of equipment capable of recording such low air exchange rates.
"I knew you did a fantastic job in sealing this house, but I don't know how you got it that tight," Isaacs said. "It's way, way tighter than anything I have ever tested before."
Marsik, who designed the house after a Passive Office office he built with his students at the campus as an educational tool developed by the university's Sustainable Energy Program, said he couldn't have accomplished the success he has without help and support from many organizations.
"We couldn't have done this alone and are very grateful for all the support that we received," he said.
Carey Restino is the editor of The Bristol Bay Times/Dutch Harbor Fisherman, where this story first appeared. It is republished here with permission.