Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
The Cold Climate Housing Research Center is expanding its facility to make room for more interaction with outside agencies and the public. The Center located at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has received federal and private grants totaling $2 million to build a 7,500 square foot addition. CCHRC President and CEO Jack Hebert says the new Sustainable Northern Communities Center will bring collaborators in house.
Hebert says the new center wing will also include classroom space. The facility will be an addition to the 15,000 square foot main Cold Climate Housing Center building completed in 2007. It was recently named as one of the four smartest buildings in the country by Siemens Corporation. Siemens and other technology companies have outfitted the center with 1,200 sensors that monitor systems from the foundation to the roof top, to track performance, including energy efficiency. The non-profit Cold Climate Housing Research Center started by the Alaska Homebuilders Association, works to find and develop housing technology to suit challenges around Alaska.
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