BRADLEY WALTERS ARCHITECT

Bradley Walters, Mark McGlothlin, Robert J. Ries
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL U.S.A.

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ABSTRACT: This study examines the design and construction of housing for the Tebughna people of the Native Village of Tyonek, Alaska. While there are well-documented strategies to provide basic economical housing in the United States, there is very little work that has been done to address the extreme challenges facing native villages and remote communities of Alaska. These challenges include: a limited workforce without construction skills; few local/regional construction materials after years of over-harvesting by foreign interests; high costs tied to transport of construction materials over great distances; limited access to capital in cash-poor subsistence communities; inconsistent and unreliable electrical energy systems; long, cold, and dark winters in the subarctic; short construction windows that conflict with key fishing and hunting seasons; and remote locations accessible only by small planes and boats.

The existing houses in the Native Village of Tyonek are suffering and struggling under the weight of snow and the probing rivulets of water that have gradually found their way through untended assemblies. The structures leak air and water, requiring immense amounts of energy to be only barely habitable through the long winter months. The houses of the community are in disrepair, revealing a collision between want and need, absence and excess, tradition and transformation. The situation is tenuous and dire, as the community ages and loses its youth to opportunity elsewhere.  

Working within this context, explicit research questions include: How can academic research support culture and community in extreme climates? How can research help to amplify the voices of a people and their cultural practices through genuine support and service? What are appropriate architectural responses to the complex and competing demands of environmental performance, culture, and climate? How can researchers better listen to the people and their native lands, recognizing the limitations of pre-formed research questions and common academic research structures?

Over the last four years, we have worked alongside the people of Tyonek to address the critical housing needs in the village and to address these research questions. Our methodology has involved numerous community meetings and a robust, consensus-driven approach to building trust with the elders of the village. We conducted detailed surveys of existing housing, created proposals for new and renovated housing, and tested proposals by evaluating life cycle costs and energy efficiency. The work serves as a useful model for community-based work with remote native communities, especially those in cold climates.

KEYWORDS: high-performance, arctic, housing
PAPER SESSION TRACK: Historical Perspectives and Grounded Practices

INTRODUCTION

For thousands of years, the people of the Native Village of Tyonek have lived within their ancestral lands of southcentral Alaska. In the Dena’ina Athabascan language, the people refer to themselves as the Tebughna (“beach people”) because their homeland and customs are defined by the physical situation of the village along the northern shore of Tikahtnu (“the Cook Inlet”). The Tebughna have long embraced a rich traditional culture of subsistence, song, dance, storytelling, and spirituality. Hunting, trapping, fishing, and whaling has sustained the people of Tyonek to the present day. Their lives and their livelihoods depend on a close relationship with the land and a deep respect for the flora and fauna that inhabit it alongside them.

The Tebughna Foundation (TF) and the Native Village of Tyonek (NVT) approached the University of Florida (UF) through Community and College Partnerships Program (C2P2), looking for help with the design and construction of houses better suited for their community and subsistence lifestyle. The project team visited the Village during the summer of 2022 and met with tribal elders of the Tebughna people to better understand Tyonek’s current situation. This personal contact with the elders provided direct insight into the community’s housing crisis. It also allowed for the team to begin the long process of building trust with a community that has suffered from successive waves of traders and corporate interests that have sought to exploit tribal resources. Beginning with those early introductions, the project team has met with tribal elders and community members bi-weekly, and the continuity of this relationship has been essential. Though Alaska and Florida may seem to be an unusual pairing, both the people of Tyonek and the University of Florida community are experiencing the impacts of climate change first-hand due to our comparable proximity to coastal ecosystems. Additionally, the University of Florida emphasizes the importance of “place-making” within the design process. The UF team recognizes and champions the immeasurable role that physical and cultural contexts play in this process, and the impacts and influences that this awareness brings to the project work.

1.0 COMMUNITY OVERVIEW

1.1 Community Description

Tyonek is located on the northern shore of Tikahtnu (“the Cook Inlet”), within the traditional territory of the Dena’ina Athabascan people. Residents identify as Tebughna, Dena’ina for “the beach people.” For thousands of years, the people of Tyonek have embraced a rich traditional culture of subsistence, song, dance, storytelling, and spirituality. Hunting, trapping, fishing, and whaling has sustained the people of Tyonek to the present day.

Dena’ina Athabascans arrived in the Cook Inlet region between 500 and 1000 AD. In pre-contact times, it is estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 people were living in West Cook Inlet. Russian fur traders moved into the area in the 1700s, followed by Euro-Americans in the 1800s (Boraas 2004). In the 1830s, a smallpox epidemic killed half the Dena’ina population in Tyonek and the surrounding regions (Anchorage Museum n.d.). After suffering from severe flooding over many years, the Village moved from Old Tyonek to its present location in the early 1930s. The Native Village of Tyonek (NVT) was formally organized in 1939 under the Indian Reorganization Act. In 1964, NVT sold oil and gas leases on portions of its land, using revenue from the sale to build new houses in Tyonek Village for all tribal members in the 1960s. The Village was expanded further in 1978 when Cook Inlet Housing Authority developed the Indian Creek Subdivision, consisting of 27 modular homes on 34 home sites. There has been no new home construction in the Village since then.

As of the 2020 census, there were 152 residents in Tyonek (U.S. Census Bureau 2025). Of these residents, 122 (80%) identify as American Indian and Alaska Native. The median household income in the Tyonek CDP is $42,159, less than half of Alaska’s $88,121 median household income. The unemployment rate in Tyonek CDP is 44% and the poverty rate is 16%. Almost half of the population (49%) is without health insurance coverage.

The project area is centered precisely around the existing homes and people of the Native Village of Tyonek, focused to provide impactful benefits to the residents of this community.

1.2 Community Challenges

Tyonek is an isolated Village, not accessible by road. Tyonek maintains a private gravel airstrip (TYE), which is used by small planes that transport people and goods to and from the Village. Larger bulk materials can be transported to Tyonek via barge from Anchorage or Kenai in the summer or early fall. Located 43 miles southwest of Anchorage, Tyonek falls within the gulf coast transitional climate zone, characterized as semi-arid, with long, cold winters, and mild summers. Winter temperatures typically range from 4 to 22 °F; summer average temperatures range from 46 to 65 °F. Recorded temperature extremes range from -27 to 91 °F. Average annual precipitation is 23 inches, with 82 inches of snow. Winter days are very short (5 hours, 30 minutes of sunlight), while summer days are quite long (up to 19 hours, 18 minutes of sunlight) (Time and Date AS  2025).

The Native Village of Tyonek does not have adequate housing for its people. There are currently a total of 89 homes in Tyonek, including 67 occupied and 22 vacant or abandoned homes. The houses do not have adequate insulation or vapor barriers, resulting in very high energy costs, high Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and poor indoor air quality.

The existing housing exposes residents to hazardous materials. The homes were designed and built with limited moisture control in the envelope including cast-in-place concrete foundations and basements. This has led to moisture migration, standing water, and mold growth in the homes. Roof assemblies are undersized and are structurally inadequate for current snow loads. Many roofs have deteriorated and are compromised or have had temporary repairs. This has led to structural damage, deteriorated insulation, and reduced thermal effectiveness. Interior mold growth can be found in 100% of the homes in the Project Area. Given the age of the homes, it is likely that lead paint and asbestos-containing materials exist in the homes.

The electrical grid in Tyonek is unreliable. Electrical service is typically interrupted five times each winter during sub-freezing weather conditions. Recent outages range from seven hours up to five days in length. These outages can be hazardous for residents who are dependent on electricity for medical devices. Residents must endure extremely cold indoor temperatures and rely on wood stoves or expensive fuel oil space heaters for supplemental heating, adversely impacting indoor air quality and human health. Supply disruptions caused by poor weather conditions lead to fuel oil shortages in Tyonek during the most severe winter months.

The household energy cost burden is extremely high. A survey conducted by the Tebughna Foundation in 2021 showed that the average monthly electric bill was over $300/month in the summer (May-August) and over $600/month in the winter (September-April). This equates to about 15% of median annual household income, which is more than double the burden in urban areas of Alaska, where energy costs average 7% of median household income. The current residential electricity cost is over $0.20 per kWh (Chugach Electric Association 2025).

1.3 Community Vision

This project aims to provide significant beneficial impacts for the Native Village of Tyonek. In the near term, the project will reduce environmental hazards present in the homes and safely manage the disposal of hazardous materials including asbestos, lead, and materials compromised by mold or structural decay. In the medium term, the project will provide workforce development opportunities, allowing village residents to learn skills that will provide them with financial opportunities as well as knowledge in advanced, low-carbon, and healthy building trades. New photovoltaic (PV) solar systems will provide local electricity generation, providing greater resilience in the electrical grid while reducing costs to residents. Improvements in the houses will make them healthy, high-performing, and long-lasting, reducing GHG emissions and environmental pollution. The reduced operational costs will provide residents with greater financial independence and allow them to maintain time-honored subsistence traditions. Finally, over the longer term, the project will result in a stronger community with fewer adverse health and environmental impacts. The new and renovated homes will provide community residents with greater stability in their living conditions, yielding important long-term community-scale benefits. The funding available through this grant program will provide deep and long-lasting benefits to the community.

2.0 SELECTED STRATEGIES

2.1 Strategy Overview

In response to Tyonek’s inadequate current housing, this project proposes major building upgrades, significant rehabilitation work, and new construction. The project consists of three principal components:

1. Workforce Development: Create a workforce development program in Tyonek;
2. Hazardous Material Management: Remove hazardous materials in existing homes to be renovated, including lead, asbestos, and mold;
3. Construct Housing: Renovate and rehabilitate existing homes. Construct new high-performance homes to expand current housing supply.

2.2 Project Team

The project team consists of the Tebughna Foundation (TF) as the overall project manager, the University of Florida (UF) design and construction faculty and students, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Center for Applied Research with Communities in Extreme Environments (ARCEE) as design and energy performance consultants and Alaska Works Partnership, Inc. (AWP) for workforce training.

2.3 Implementation

Work on the project has been conducted through a series of phases, as follows:

Phase 1: Learning about the Community

• April 2022: Project and Team Introductions by Mike Burns of C2P2.
• Summer 2022: Work with Tebughna Foundation to learn about the community and housing concerns.
• September 2022: Fieldwork in Tyonek and Anchorage AK, including meetings with village elders, residents, and NVT staff in Tyonek.

Phase 2: Develop New Housing Prototypes

• Fall 2022: UF Graduate Studio “Envisioning New Housing Possibilities”
• Spring 2023: Design of a New Housing Prototype “Tebughna Fireweed” for the 2023 Solar Decathlon Design Challenge, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Tebughna Fireweed proposal won First Place in New Housing Division.
• May 2023: Report to NVT Tribal Council

Phase 3: Conduct Detailed Assessments of Existing Houses + Develop Renovation Proposals

• July 2023: Fieldwork in Tyonek AK to conduct assessments and document existing conditions
• September 2023: Report to NVT Tribal Council
• Spring 2024: Develop initial strategies for possible renovations of existing houses

Phase 4: EPA Community Change Grant

• 2023-2024: Tebughna Foundation and UF team wrote grant proposals to support housing construction.
• July 2024: Submitted proposal to EPA.
• December 2024: Awarded $20-million USD EPA Community Change Grant, to support workforce training, construction, hazardous material remediation, and project-related activities.
• February 2025: Begin 3-year “Period of Performance” for EPA Grant. Meetings in Anchorage and Tyonek with project team, NVT, and community residents to begin project work.
• May 2025: EPA unilateral termination of grant award, without cause.

Phase 5: Work Refining Project Parameters and Pursuing New Funding Sources Tebughna Foundation and the UF team continue to meet bi-weekly to pursue new funding sources.

3.0 EXISTING HOUSING

3.1 Overview

The Native Village of Tyonek has two primary types of residential housing distinguished by their methods of construction. In the area known as the “Village,” the housing is constructed using conventional wood framing with a cast-in-place concrete foundation. There are fifty-eight (58) houses constructed in the Village using this method in three distinct floor plan configurations (and one custom variant). This type of home was constructed in the 1960s. The homes are single-story above the foundation and have gable roofs. There is one duplex unit constructed in the 2000s for teachers housing. It was constructed in a different manner, using conventional wood construction lifted above the ground, with a crawl space below.

In the Indian Creek subdivision of the Native Village of Tyonek (“Subdivision”), the housing is modular construction. In other words, the majority of the housing unit’s construction occurs in a factory setting off-site, the housing unit is then shipped to the Native Village of Tyonek and placed on a foundation comprised of glulam beams supported by posts on spread footings. There are twenty-seven (27) houses constructed in the Subdivision using this method in three distinct floor plan configurations. This type of home appears to have been constructed in the 1970s.

3.2 Renovation and Rehabilitation Strategies

The renovation and rehabilitation of existing homes will begin with fifteen (15) existing houses in the Village. Renovation work is extensive, including: 1) Basement excavations to allow for waterproofing and insulation of basements; 2) Removal of existing substandard roof trusses and replacing them with new trusses with raised heels; 3) New exterior wall assemblies, incorporating vertical trusses for additional insulation; 4) New windows and doors; 5) All new building systems (elec, mech, plumbing); and 5) Possible new additions of up to 700 sf/house.

Figure 1 provides a side-by-side comparison of the existing building assemblies along with the proposed building modifications.

Figure 1: Existing and proposed high-performance building envelopes. The existing building structures (shown in the center of the image) include: 1) inadequate insulation, especially at intersection of roof and wall; 2) inadequate and insufficient roof structure for snow loads; 3) inadequate thermal insulation and poor or missing air barriers at exterior walls; and 4) no insulation and inadequate waterproofing at basements. The proposed renovations (shown to the right of the image) include: 1) new roof trusses with raised heels to accommodate additional snow loads and thermal insulation; 2) new air barriers protected by electrical chases at walls and ceilings; 3) ventilated attics to maintain cold roofs; 4) new high-performance windows and doors; 5) new wall-mounted Larsen trusses and additional insulation to improve thermal performance of building envelope; 6) new below-trade insulation, waterproofing membranes, and perimeter drainage at basements; and 7) upgraded building systems including new electric air-source heat pumps. Source: (Authors 2025)

4.0 NEW HIGH-PERFORMANCE HOMES: THE “TEBUGHNA FIREWEED”

4.1 Design Strategy

Celebrating the tribe’s rich history and their intimate understanding of the region’s ecosystems, the Tebugha Fireweed is a proposal for new housing that aims to restore the people’s autonomy and independence by creating homes that are powered by the sun. Where houses have been lost to fire, structural failure, or decay, or where there are unbuilt/vacant properties, new high-performance homes will be built in the Village and/or Subdivision. We expect to construct five (5) or more new houses, depending on available funding.

The Tebughna people do not want to resurrect forgotten vernaculars in terms of buildings, but are deeply invested in the preservation of cultural and physical necessities; namely, a wood-burning stove, a meat smokehouse, and a sweat. Family life inside the house needs to strike a balance between public and private spaces, with the emphasis on public living spaces that are adaptable to multiple activities. Given the complex cultural concern, challenges of context, and the immensity of need, this house is seen not as a singular solution, but rather as an initial effort towards a larger and longer reinvestment into the village of Tyonek. Designed to meet aggressive performance targets, the houses are also designed to weather and age gracefully over time in this arctic environment, with “right to repair” central to our design ethos.

In collaboration with the Native Village of Tyonek and the Tebughna Foundation, students and tribal members discussed the critical needs of reliable energy sources and durable homes, as well as unique cultural requirements that the home must accommodate. The home is designed for a multi-generational family, with a first-floor bedroom suite to support aging-in-place and large open areas for communal gatherings. Ample storage accommodates subsistence living in Tyonek. The homes are each powered by a 5 kW wall-mounted photovoltaic system, as well as a community-scale PV array that will be located nearby. The team is planning for possible future implementation of hydrogen fuel cells to allow for longer-term energy storage in the community.

4.2 Architecture and Occupant Experience

Inspired by the resilience and tenacity of the common fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) found throughout the region, this new house proposal is designed to be built quickly on-site with common building materials. The house uses light wood trusses for the elevated floor, exterior walls, and roof. These trusses provide an economical method for creating a well-insulated building envelope. Designed for its arctic environment, the house lifts above the cold ground. It incorporates vertical wall-mounted photovoltaic panels, an energy recovery ventilator, and a dedicated fresh-air system. A small wood stove provides critical backup heating and supplements the highly efficient air source heat pump.

The house is designed around the spatial needs of the Tyonek family featuring flexible living space, particularly the main dining and living areas, and three private bedrooms that offer abundant storage. The large living spaces are designed for cultural gatherings with ample flexible space that can accommodate large groups of people. On the exterior of the home, a warm material palette is used to contrast the cold climate of Tyonek.

Tebughna funeral practices include bringing the coffin of loved ones into the living space of one’s home for three days. The northern arctic entryway allows for a direct line of entry to account for the large dimensions and turn radius of a coffin into the home. Similarly, the home often is a place of communal gathering and large, flexible spaces that can transition from housing a small family to a large number of friends and relatives are crucial.

Storage is an absolute necessity to the subsistence lifestyle of the Tebughna. Families hunt and fish during the summer season and process and preserve it for the winter months. For fish, this includes smoking prior to freezing. For moose, this includes field dressing the animal, then butchering and freezing the meat. As such, large chest freezers are an essential staple of the Tebughna home. The Fireweed house has dedicated space for a large chest freezer in the arctic entry, and covered space near the smoke and sweat should the family want or need additional freezers. Ample storage for dry goods and other staples is equally important, and completely lacking in the current housing stock. In response, the Fireweed has been designed to include multiple closets and cabinetry, and additional shelving can be incorporated within the living space as needed.

In terms of daily activities, the kitchen and living spaces are conjoined and uninterrupted by structure or other obstructions, to ensure flexibility for the preparation of meals and other provisions, crafting activities, and family and social gatherings. The home has two arctic entryways, one primarily for public use and one primarily for family use that contains storage and utility spaces. Access to the raised first floor of the home is by stairways, which are designed to be removed and replaced with ramps if enhanced accessibility is required.

The inclusion of an Energy Star approved wood burning stove serves two important roles in the house. First and foremost, it can serve as a redundant backup heating source, ensuring safety during the harsh winters. More importantly, it becomes a permanent cultural fixture within the home of a Tebughna family. The stove provides an immediate and direct source of heat around which the family can gather, share stories, and rekindle the bonds of community during the dark, winter months. There are few vernacular traces remaining in Tyonek and though the community desires to establish a new vernacular language to carry forward to the next generation, they are equally certain of maintaining the cultural traditions, including the central role of the stove in daily life. As such, the wood stove becomes more than simply a hearth, it is an essential anchor to the Tebughna home.

4.3 Engineering and Construction

The heavy emphasis placed on the thermal control of the house drives the primary engineering decisions. A truss system envelops the house to provide ample wall, floor, and roof cavity space for insulation. The average R value of around 80 coupled with ensured air tightness minimizes heat loss and air infiltration. The house is lifted above the ground to reduce thermal transfer in the foundation system. The structural system that raises the house uses a foundation of wood bearing pads and adjustable posts and a substructure of glulam beams that allows adjustments to address differential settling caused by the constant freezing and thawing of the ground.

Construction in NVT is limited by the location of the Village and the arctic environment. The proposed schedule considers seasonal restrictions, anticipating that principal material deliveries by barge and all earthwork activities will take place in the summer months. The schedule anticipates a three-month primary construction window when earthwork and exterior envelopes will be completed, with interior finish work during the remainder of the year. The construction cycle is based on a duplex in Tyonek for K12 teachers, completed from start-to-finish in three (3) months by Cook Inlet Housing Authority. The renovation and new home proposals will utilize off-site construction of wood trusses for roofs, walls, and floors. These trusses and other construction materials and components can be efficiently packed onto barges for transport to Tyonek.

We chose to take “Market-ready” as utilizing materials and methods that are common and easily replicable, as this home and variations of it will likely be constructed multiple times throughout the village. Given the complex logistics and expenses of bringing numerous specialized construction personnel to Tyonek, the Tribe is currently looking into providing training to village residents so they are better able to contribute to the construction and future maintenance of the houses. More so, construction methods and material systems have been selected to minimize the need for specialized tools or machinery for installation, maintenance, and repair.

To further minimize shipping and equipment costs, construction materials and equipment will be sourced from Anchorage whenever possible. Materials and systems that require more extensive shipping are carefully vetted to ensure that the longevity of the products can counterbalance the additional expenses and environmental impacts of longer shipping routes. The few things that come from outside of Anchorage have greater environmental and longevity benefits that outweigh the added shipping expense.

An additional measure taken to simplify construction was the application of trusses as the primary structural system for the entire building envelope. These trusses can be prefabricated in Anchorage and then flat-packed and shipped to Tyonek via barge. This approach will allow for greater control in terms of both costs and material waste, and more so, will accelerate the construction schedule on site, and in doing so reduce the associated labor expenses.

4.4 Life Cycle Cost Comparison

Methodology: For the comparison of a code compliant home and our team’s design, we utilized the present value Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis method as defined in the Life Cycle Cost Manual for the Federal Energy Management Program – Handbook 135 (Kneifel and Webb 2020). The nominal discount rate is 2.0%, referenced from the Annual Supplement to Handbook 135 (Kneifel and Lavappa 2022). A 50-year study period was used. The overall LCC of the code compliant house is estimated at $1,400,149, nearly double the cost of our proposed Fireweed design at $790,586.

While it is not the most different in terms of absolute cost, a comparison of the heating system life cycle costs in the code compliant house and Fireweed is a good example to demonstrate the importance of using LCC. The code compliant alternative has an oil-fired boiler versus the air-source heat pump of Fireweed, which shows a marked improvement in terms of LCC as well as environmental benefits. The present value of the annual energy cost of the oil-fired boiler over the 50 year study period is $207,750, while the present value of the annual energy cost of the air-source heat pump is $78,570 when on-site solar generation is considered. The electricity cost for Fireweed was calculated in the following way. The LCC of the on-site PV system is included in the LCC of Fireweed and the electricity it produces has no additional cost. The balance of electricity use is provided by the community solar PV installation. The cost of this electricity is included at $0.26 $/kWh, the current market rate in Tyonek. The equipment first costs of the oil-fired boiler and the air source heat pump are roughly equivalent and therefore the operational costs clearly favor the air-source heat pump in the LCC analysis.

Another element that exemplifies the improvement in the Fireweed design is the exterior facade finish material. The code compliant example has vinyl siding that has a LCC of $169,420 over the study period, due to the maintenance and replacement needed in this climate. In stark contrast is the burnt fir siding in Fireweed, which has a LCC of $86,900. The greatest difference in cost comes from the frequency of replacement. The vinyl siding is estimated to need replacement every 15 years while the charred fir siding has a life cycle of 80 years. Given the difficulty of maintaining as well as obtaining and installing replacement materials in this challenging location, the superior longevity is worth the extra first cost and that is supported by the lower LCC. The equipment and materials were chosen specifically for their lower operational and maintenance costs as compared to the code compliant baseline. The exterior siding and interior finishes are specifically noteworthy in terms of low maintenance, repair, and replacement costs. The exterior siding and interior plywood wall panels only require periodic re-oiling, while the code compliant baseline’s gypsum walls and vinyl siding require much more extensive maintenance and more frequent replacement. The annual cost for the fuel oil boiler used in the code-compliant baseline for space and water heating is on average $5,760 per year whereas the air source heat pumps for space and water heating in Fireweed cost $1,082 per year. The comparison clearly illustrates the life-cycle benefits of our equipment choices.

4.5 Embodied Environmental Impact

The goal of the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is to evaluate the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of the proposed Fireweed design in order to reduce the environmental impacts of climate change. Compared to conventional code-compliant designs in Tyonek, a major benefit of the proposed design will be the elimination of the GHG emissions of the fuel oil-based space and water heating system and fossil fuel grid electricity generation with an air-source heat pump and on-site and community PV. An additional focus of the LCA is on the construction materials and processes for Fireweed. Careful consideration was given to materials that have a low carbon footprint in their production, are renewable, and are produced as locally as possible to minimize transportation distances and modes that result in GHG emissions. The choice of a durable and renewable wood siding compared to the conventional choice (vinyl siding) is a good example of the use of LCA in the design process.

A recent code-compliant residential home in Tyonek, the same baseline home used for the LCC analysis, was modeled together with Fireweed in order to provide a reference for comparison. The scope of the LCA includes the following stages as per EN 15643:2021: Modules A1 through A3, the production stage of the construction materials; Module A4, transportation of the materials to the site; Module A5, the on-site construction process; and Module B6, operational energy (EN 15643:2021 Standard). The two homes were compared over a 50-year life cycle.

OneclickLCA was used to create the LCA of Fireweed and the code-compliant baseline. The construction materials and systems for Fireweed and the code-compliant baseline were the same as in the LCC analysis. The shipping distances and modes were estimated from the likely manufacturing locations for the products in both cases. The construction processes were based on the equipment available in Tyonek. Operational energy GHG emissions for Fireweed are zero since the total electrical energy use is from PV and therefore does not have operational GHG emissions. The operational energy use for the reference code-compliant home is from actual utility bills from the past three years. Average annual fuel oil consumption for heating and electricity consumption for appliances, lighting, and miscellaneous loads were used to estimate annual consumption. The GHG emissions were estimated using the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Greenhouse Gases Equivalencies Calculator (EPA n.d.).

The proposed Fireweed design clearly benefits primarily from zero GHG emissions in the building operation phase (B6). However, Fireweed notably also reduces the embodied carbon in the home by 45% due to the careful selection of low-carbon materials (A1-A3) that are as locally sourced as possible. There is a relatively small increase in on-site construction emissions (A5) but overall, Fireweed has 22% of the GHG impact of the code-compliant baseline over the 50-year life cycle.

4.6 Performance Assessments

Performance of the new housing proposals was evaluated using digital energy modeling tools. The project meets a HERS index rating of 32 (without solar panels) and 22 (with wall-mounted solar panels included). As noted above, the life-cycle assessment reflects an embodied carbon reduction of 45%. The life-cycle cost of $790,585.68 is 55% of the code-compliant baseline life cycle cost.

CONCLUSION

Over the last four years, we have worked alongside the people of Tyonek to address critical housing needs in the village. Our work in Tyonek has, in part, required us to search for traces of history and culture in a place that intentionally eschews mark-making. Most of what we have found is unwritten and unpublished. It is shared, local, tribal, and familial. There are stories that are woven together with subsistence traditions of fishing and hunting on these lands over many generations. There are traces of deep, familial ties that bind families, place, and habit. And there are traces of fissures within and between families, separating one person or family group from another. There are shared celebrations and shared struggles, spoken of either with pride or with deep care and concern. We see the traces of time in the people who live in the community today, marked by the celebrations and difficulties of life in the subarctic, and increasingly scarred by the effects of a globalized world that seems determined to dictate rather than listen.

Ultimately, through this project, we aim to address the future of the built environment through a more sustainable lens. This design is meant to revitalize Tyonek’s housing conditions by meeting the physical, social, and environmental needs of the people of Tyonek. 

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to the people of Tyonek for your kind invitation to complete this work with you, and for your generous hospitality during our time in Tyonek. Thank you to Vide Kroto and Don Standifer of the Tebughna Foundation and Mike Burns of Community and College Partners Program (C2P2) for providing the financial, technical, logistical, and human support that made this work possible. Special thanks to Chet King for his kind and generous assistance during the on-site field work as well as the travel to/from Tyonek and Anchorage. Chet’s familiarity with the Village was everywhere apparent, and incredibly important. This deepened our team’s understanding of the place and its people immeasurably.

Thanks to project team partners, including Aaron Cooke and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Center for Applied Research with Communities in Extreme Environments (ARCEE), Cook Inlet Housing Authority (CIHA), and Alaska Works Partnership, Inc. (AWP).

Thanks to the student team members who have contributed to the project work to date. EPA Grant (Spring 2025): Christopher Fettes, Aaron Karr; Renovation strategies (Spring 2024): Jovana Grdinic, Claire Jennings, Noah Kartagener, Danny Kopelman, Julia Polefko, Elena Rizzuto, Melos Shtaloja; Existing house assessments (Summer 2023): Raymond Wincko; Tebughna Fireweed new house proposal (Spring 2023): Sophie Abel, Addison Besedic, Sydney Cherrington, Joshua Clark, Hannah Concepcion, Kaley Denaro, Abigail Duffey, Hayley Gillette, Garrett Gruttadauria, Caitlin Jennings, Mahtab Kouhi Rostamkolaei, Frank LaPuma, Valeria Lobo Colmenares, Juan Miri, Erica Morrissey, Joyce Ng, Thomas “Luke” Slay, Courtney Smith, Benjamin Spears; Graduate research and design studio (Fall 2022): Ulfa Kun Aulia, Taylor Brunsvold, Parker Cox, Joselyn Gambetta, Noah Kieffer-Ashby, Dimitri Lonardo, Daniel Rivero-Gonzalez, Alejandro Rodriguez, Firas Sakka, Marla Stephens, Maysain Tannous, Cooper Turner, John Varamogiannis, Raymond Wincko; Fieldwork and community meetings (Summer 2022): Mahtab Kouhi Rostamkolaei.

Financial support for this work was provided by the Tebughna Foundation, Community and College Partners Program (C2P2), U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning, and the University of Florida School of Architecture.

REFERENCES

Anchorage Museum. n.d. “Dena’ina, Historical Timelines, Time Travel, Russian America.” Dena’inaq’ Huch’ulyeshi: The Dena’ina Way of Living. Anchorage Museum. Accessed December 10, 2025. https://denaina.anchoragemuseum.org/time-travel.html.

Boraas, Alan. 2004. “Dena’ina Prehistory.” Tyonek Conservation District, Community & Culture Resources, Dena’ina History. https://ttcd.org/community-culture-resources/.

Chugach Electric Association, Inc. 2025. “South District Rate Information.” Chugachelectric.com. 2025. https://www.chugachelectric.com/your-cooperative/regulatory-affairs/south-district.

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Time and Date AS. 2025. “Tyonek, Alaska, USA — Sunrise, Sunset, and Daylength.” Timeanddate.com. 2025. https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@5877053.

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