New home styles are designed for rural Alaska

Two prototype homes are being developed in Alaska that are supposed to cut energy bills in half and cost half as much to build, reports Kyle Hopkins of the Anchorage Daily News. In one Alaska village, the prototype is octagonal with no hallways; it's easier to heat, using as little as 150 gallons of oil a year. Existing homes can use up to five times that, according to the Cold Climate Housing Research Center. The shape also exposes less of the exterior walls to the wind and allows foam insulation to be sprayed from the inside for easier construction in wet weather.

The other test home is a rectangular design that includes an 18-inch buffer of soy foam insulation that should allow the prototype home to sit directly on the ground without melting permafrost. Two of the walls are sloped inward at a 60-degree angle, mimicking the form of traditional sod homes and reducing snowdrifts against the house.
 
Some rural Alaska homes built in the 1970s have been designated unfit for human occupancy due to rotting and rain-soaked walls. The Cold Climate Housing Research Center's goal is to create affordable, energy-efficient home designs that village residents can build themselves, Hopkins reports. (Read more)