2012 Arctic Circle Dome Home
The Arctic Circle
is the southernmost latitude in the Northern Hemisphere at which the sun can
remain continuously below or above the horizon for 24 hours. These conditions
exist at the winter solstice and at the summer solstice. Barrow, Alaska, located 330 miles north of
the Arctic Circle, is the northernmost settlement in the United States. In
winter, the community endures 65 days of darkness, while during summer it
enjoys 82 days of perpetual sunlight. Of the community’s 4,500-plus residents,
more than 60 percent are of native Inupiat descent. Barrow was originally a
whaling community, and tours of Barrow often combine cultural and educational
activities with wildlife viewing and tundra exploration.
Near
Barrow the treeless frozen tundra will thaw to a depth of about 3 feet in the
summer. Homes are held in place with vertical pilings that extend 12 feet or
more down into the permanently frozen tundra (permafrost). To secure the pilings, a slurry of sand and
water is poured around the pilings. Within a day, house-supporting pilings are
permanently frozen into the tundra. Not having to use concrete saves some
money. However, getting any building materials to Barrow, Alaska is complicated
and expensive.
There are no roads into or out of
Barrow. There are about 40 miles of mostly gravel roads connecting the homes
and businesses within the village of Barrow. Both the tundra and the remoteness
of Barrow conspire to make flying or a "once a year when the sea ice melts"
barge the only options for getting building materials to Barrow, Alaska. During
the spring of 2012 EconOdome Kits and other pre-cut and uncut materials were
loaded into two standard 20 ft. shipping containers in Sullivan, Illinois and
sent to Barrow, Alaska via truck, train, and the annual Bowhead Barge.
The annual
Bowhead Barge leaves Seattle on June 25 headed north towards Barrow, AK.
My name is Wil Fidroeff. I have helped
to design and build many unique homes. Most of those homes have been dome
homes. During the winter and spring of 2012 I became deeply involved with
designing, manufacturing, and shipping construction materials to build a 30'
diameter, two story, dome home suitable for Barrow, Alaska. I soon learned that
helping to build a dome home specifically designed for the Arctic climate and
for the people who live in Barrow would require much consideration and also
close communication with folks whose regular business is building homes in
Barrow and in other villages adjacent the Arctic Ocean.
This shipping
container was first loaded with T-Beam struts, insulated triangle panels,
pre-cut
perimeter walls, and pre-fabricated trapezoids, + 9 triple pane casement
windows.
Included also were pre-cut rubber shingles + pre-cut
exterior steps and and interior stairs
The
exterior steps are on 4x6 treated skids so they can rest directly on the
ground.
The interior stairs were made as shown so that the treads
and risers are easily attached.
A second
shipping container was also filled with construction materials for Barrow,
Alaska.
Materials
included were 70 sheets of 5/8" T-111 siding, 70 sheets of 3/4"
T&G Advantech subflooring,
enough 2x10's
to frame both floors and the Arctic entry roofs, 2x4's for interior wall
framing,
more insulated
triangle panels, and EPDM roofing for the Arctic entry roofs.
In the
background you can see the home/office of Wil Fidroeff and Carol Horsman,
co-owners of
Faze Change Produx, Creators of EconOdome Home Building Kits
Many new homes in Barrow, built for
the native Inupiat Eskimos and others, are built under the guidance of TNHA. I
have found TNHA to be very diligent in wanting to build better and more
economical housing for the people of Barrow and other villages adjacent the
Arctic Ocean. Sometimes the homes are sold on the open market and other times
the homes are rented to native Inupiats. BTW..It has been determined using
carbon dating technology that the native Inupiat Eskimos have continuously
lived adjacent the Arctic Ocean in northern Alaska for more than 1,600 years.
8x8 vertical pilings and laminated beams will support
2x10 floor joists.
The two story dome home is located adjacent existing
housing, Barrow Airport,
North Slope Borough Search & Rescue, and (from left
to right in the background)
the Ice Rink, City Hall, and Piuraagvik Recreation
Center
at the intersection of Okpik Street and Ahkovak Street
Mr. Ognik's flat roof may fall in and his flat walls may
be moved by the Arctic wind.
The average winter temperature is
around -25 degrees F.. So homes need an Arctic entry to minimize the heat loss
when entering or leaving the building. Building codes require two entries, so
two Arctic entries became part of the design. In very cold Arctic climates,
pre-heated fresh air is needed to replace air exhaused from the bathroom and
kitchen. So, in the Barrow dome home, fresh air is drawn in thru a duct located
just under the subflooring of the insulated main floor so that the fresh air is
warmed prior to entering the interior. Turning on an exhaust fan draws in passively
heated fresh air thru about 60 feet of ducting under the floor. Additionally,
the air within the dome home is destratified by moving air from near the top of
the dome ceiling to near the floor at the lower level. This is done using a low
wattage & quiet fan located inside a duct space.
Unfrozen fresh water will initially be
delivered to the home via a water truck. Eventually, new homes built in the
village of Barrow, are connected to a utilidor. Utilidors (think
utility-corridor) are made with laminated planks that are insulated. Sometimes
the utilidor is above ground, sometimes below ground. Water storage tanks are
installed in all new homes as it will sometimes take a year or more until a new
home is connected with a utilidor extension to the existing utilidor system. The heated
utilidors are used to keep water and sewage from freezing.
The first draft
of the ground level floor plan looked like this with three bedrooms and a
bathroom upstairs.
After the
building was enclosed, and the ambiance of the loft level under the dome
ceiling was felt,
the floor plan
layout was revised (see below) in order to locate the kitchen and living room
on the second floor,
under the
geodesic dome ceiling accented
by sustainably
harvested exposed Southern Pine 2x4 T-Beams.
Perimeter 2x8
walls are internally braced and blocked. Arctic entry walls are framed with
2x6's.
All exterior
vertical perimeter walls were insulated with sprayed in-place foam insulation.
After the walls
at the ground level were constructed mostly with pre-cut lumber,
the second
story floor was constructed with 2x10 floor joists and Advantech subflooring.
In the photo
above you can see the pre-assembled vertical trapezoids and EconOdome struts.
Headers are not
needed on the perimeter walls as the loft level rim joists are located above
the doors and windows.
Exterior walls
include diagonal bracing to ensure stability. With all framed perimeter walls
including bracing, insulation sheeting could be installed over the braced
framing. The sloping triangular surfaces of the dome frame(see below) are
sealed with lapping 90 mil (cold weather tested) EPDM rubber triangles that
were attached with glue. Similar coverings made with 60 mil TPO may be attached
with large washers with the lapping seams covering the fasteners and fused
together with a heat gun. Triangular TPO rubber shingles may be heat welded in
very cold weather.
Many
of the grasses, flowers, and berries of the Arctic tundra owe their existence
to the presence of permafrost. With only a few inches of precipitation a year,
Arctic Alaska could well be a barren desert. However, permafrost forms a frozen
floor beneath seasonally thawed ground near the surface. Rainfall and snowmelt
cannot percolate or drain off. Instead, water collects at the surface,
providing moisture to nourish plants and forming innumerable shallow lakes and
ponds. Tundra plants, in turn, insulate the permafrost beneath them from
thawing. They seal out the warm temperatures and sunlight of summer so the
permafrost remains frozen. Melting of permafrost can pose problems for humans
and their activities. If overlying vegetation is removed or disturbed, its
insulating qualities are lost and the permafrost begins to melt. Waterlogged
ground becomes soft and collapses. Buildings and roads may slump or tilt, and
vehicles bog down in mud. Alaskans have developed innovative techniques for
building on permafrost so it will not melt. Houses in permafrost areas are
frequently built on pilings so they will not transfer heat to the ground.
Floors are insulated. Water and sewer pipes are sometimes installed above
ground.
Recent study results show that much
of the undisturbed discontinuous permafrost south of the Yukon River has warmed
significantly and some of it is thawing. This raises the possibility that
roads, buildings, and other structures on thawed areas will collapse. Another
problem could arise as well: As permafrost thaws it can release methane and
carbon dioxide, gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect and accelerate
global warming. Near Barrow, and along the north coast of Alaska, adjacent the
Arctic Ocean, the permafrost extends as deep as 2,000 feet below the
surface.
The
30 ft. dia. dome built in Barrow, Alaska during the summer of 2012 was built
upon pilings extending 12 ft. below the surface. To assist with vertical
loading, bolts protruding sideways into the frozen tundra were installed near
the bottom of all the pilings. Pipes were mounted on the sides of the pilings
so that the temperature of the tundra could be measured at chosen depths. The
pilings and support beams were joined with heavy duty welded and bolted steel
connecters. However, if global warming causes the permafrost to melt to greater
depths each year, new types of foundation systems, that are either adjustable
or floating will need to be devised for the Arctic.
One
such foundation involves resting a modified EconOdome frame kit on 20
"feet"/pads.
A
balanced and lightweight intact dome will rest directly on the tundra, much
like the feet of a lunar lander would rest on the Moon or Mars. The difference
is that this type of foundation system is much more economical. The
up-side-down vertical 2x6 trapezoids support the entire vertical load of the
dome home above. Adjacent the ground, the 2x6 supporting circular truss is held
in tension via stainless steel screws and metal straps. Each foot on the
building will rest on a small pile of gravel. If a locomotive pulling numerous
and very heavy train cars can be supported by gravel under ties and tracks,
certainly a lightweight and balanced intact dome home can be supported by a
circular truss resting on twenty pads. If after several freeze-thaw cycles, the
building leans, the building can be easily jacked up and shimmed in place using
treated wood blocks under the pads. There are 10 places at the perimeter where
jacks can be positioned, if that ever becomes necessary.
Written by: Wil Fidroeff cc 2012
For more info on EconOdome Kits
Designed for all climates and
lifestyles....see...
www.econodome.com