Cohort 1: Wainwright, Alaska

Wainwright, Alaska, wanted to increase energy efficiency and thermal resilience for a municipal building through technical assistance from the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP).

Project Summary

Wainwright is an islanded community powered by diesel fuel located at 70 degrees north latitude on the Chukchi Sea coast, 3 miles northeast of the Kuk River estuary. Most Wainwright inhabitants are Inupiat who practice a subsistence lifestyle. Their ancestors were the Utukamiut (people of the Utukok River) and Kukmiut (people of the Kuk River). Wainwright falls within the arctic climate zone, characterized by seasonal extremes in temperature. Building heating and power generation fuel costs are heavily subsidized by the regional municipality, which imports diesel in bulk by annual barge during the summer period when the Chukchi Sea is free of ice.

ETIPP's partnership with Wainwright identified pathways to reduce operating costs, enhance indoor environmental quality, and improve the resilience of a 1,500-ft² former federal armory building owned by the Tribe as it is renovated as a community multipurpose facility. The scope of work included evaluating multiple building efficiency measures, options for an on-site renewable energy system, and integrated energy storage system possibilities to help the building withstand grid outages and reduce diesel-fired energy use.

Project Outcomes

The ETIPP team worked with the community and its representatives to identify a mixture of energy efficiency measures, renewable energy systems, and energy storage systems that would drastically reduce annual operations and maintenance costs for a multi-use facility donated to the community while increasing the building’s thermal resilience.

Key Takeaways

Several challenges were associated with this project. The site of the multi-use facility had been unused and without power for more than 10 years, meaning no records of energy usage existed. Furthermore, the building had been moved twice, which stressed the major joints and necessitated some base repair and maintenance. The site and structure also needed additional civil engineering work because the building was 17 inches off-level and was situated in the primary drainage path for that portion of the village, requiring work to redirect water drainage.

Opportunities and Impacts

The ETIPP findings helped rule out some economically unworkable approaches, reinforced how much community champions matter to project success, and produced decision support that will enable the village of Wainwright to move forward when appropriate resources are fully in place. The project developer, Taġiuġmiullu Nunamiullu Housing Authority, continues to acquire funding to address the structural and civil engineering challenges so it can apply resources toward implementing reliable low-carbon energy systems.

Additional Information

Five Alaskan Entities Receive Technical Assistance From National Labs, Renewable Energy Alaska Project (2021)

New Federal Program To Help Five Remote Alaska Communities Transition to Renewable Energy, Alaska Public Media (2021)

Wainwright: Overlooking the Chukchi Sea, Arctic Slope Native Association

Wainwright, North Slope Borough