Solarize Fairbanks BRITE: Facilitating Efficient, Resilient Homes in Cold Climates: Paper No. C40

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

Abstract

Solarize Fairbanks began an annual Solarize campaign in the Interior Alaska city in 2020, located in IECC climate zone 8, with a goal to increase the number of solar PV panels in the community. The campaign provides peer support, education, bulk purchase discounts, and simplified installation of solar PV technologies for homes, businesses, and nonprofits. In 2021, the campaign began offering energy audits to building and homeowners with a bulk discount; however, building owners were responsible for pursuing next steps on their own. In 2022, a diverse team of local, state, and federal partners formed a team to create a process to further facilitate energy efficiency improvements alongside solar PV technology. The resulting project, Solarize Fairbanks - Building Resilience for the Interior (BRITE) aims to build out an efficiency component over 3 years. If implemented, it will be the first efficiency add-on to a solarize campaign in Alaska. In year one, the team conducted energy audits of four nonprofits located in the cold climate of Interior Alaska and is providing technical assistance and fundraising for the nonprofits to pursue the recommended retrofits. These audits provided insights on the types of retrofits that could be expected to increase efficiency, comfort, and resiliency of buildings, including LED lighting retrofits, increased envelope insulation, improved building controls, and air source heat pump technology. A pre- and post-retrofit analysis will provide further insight on the energy savings and other benefits of the retrofits. It will also inform the offerings in the following years of the BRITE add-on to Solarize campaigns. In this presentation, program implementers will review the past campaigns of Solarize Fairbanks, summarize the energy efficiency and resiliency analyses of the nonprofit buildings, cover future plans for Solarize Fairbanks BRITE, and provide recommendations for other communities pursuing similar programs.
Original languageAmerican English
Number of pages8
StatePublished - 2023
EventASHRAE and SCANVAC HVAC Cold Climate Conference 2023 - Anchorage, Alaska
Duration: 6 Mar 20238 Mar 2023

Conference

ConferenceASHRAE and SCANVAC HVAC Cold Climate Conference 2023
CityAnchorage, Alaska
Period6/03/238/03/23

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/CP-5600-85348

Keywords

  • Alaska
  • BRITE
  • Building Resilience for the Interior
  • energy efficiency
  • Fairbanks
  • resilience
  • Solarize
  • subarctic

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