TO-22-C010 - Addressing the Housing Challenges of Rural Alaska: Air Flow and Indoor Air Quality Characteristics of Residential Buildings PDF

Residential housing in rural Alaska faces many challenges, from a harsh climate to inadequately built infrastructure. Some homes are inefficient and leaky while others lack mechanical ventilation to support indoor air quality, among other concerns. Furthermore, progressing climate change brings new threats to housing, including erosion, stronger winter storms, and warmer summers. Many coastal communities are considering relocation of housing or retrofitting existing housing to further protect against the changing climate. However, many of such coastal communities are highly isolated from mainland Alaska; most are only accessible by plane or boat. Given this, the limited availability and high cost of supplies and skilled labor restricts the level of repairs and improvements made for most of the housing stock. Similarly, many homes are highly energy burdened due to high costs of fuel and electricity. To support and motivate improving housing in this region, it is first important to quantitatively characterize the state of housing conditions.

While there are state-level surveys, these do not focus specifically on rural communities. In this research, housing assessments were conducted in the Native Village of Unalakleet, located on the west coast of Alaska. These included an interview of homeowners, a visual inspection, indoor air quality measurements, and blower door testing. Such information, across a random sample of 27 homes, helps to identify the extent of the challenges and needs present in these homes. This paper specifically focuses on the challenges of adequate air circulation throughout homes and maintaining healthy indoor air quality. These characteristics will become key inputs for energy modeling that will be used to determine cost-effective efficiency improvements to homes.