HOOPER AVENUE APARTMENTS

Location: Fairbanks, Alaska

Square Footage: 8,223 (overall), 19,345 (Fox Blocks)

Though new construction is increasingly difficult and expensive to undertake, the owner’s biggest challenge was to create healthy homes lasting 50+ years, while being as energy efficient as possible in Alaska’s extreme climates. Fox Blocks were selected as the foundational framing for the townhouse-style multi-family apartments, because of their long-term durability, resilience in extreme temperatures and energy-saving properties. Because the team used ICF blocks, they were able to pour the walls in two stages. This also enabled the framers to install all floor framing after the first floor, which made construction seamless—and was only possible because they chose to build with ICFs.

The building is long, tall, and slightly set back from the road. Exceptional workmanship was required to ensure the walls remained straight and plum to execute the angular design. Fox Blocks make this difficult task possible, because they are precision-manufactured with incredibly strong interior support.

The apartments eliminate all pollution, aside from what the local power company generates on a daily basis. All exterior walls are built with ICF, with an additional 4” of unfaced R-tech foam added to create even greater insulation. The building consists of all LED lighting and high-efficiency front-load washing machines and dryers in each unit. Each of the nine units also has its own Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) to provide fresh air all year long, avoiding cross-contamination between units. These efficient additions ensure that the energy saved through use of ICFs was not wasted from other sources within the units. Using AKWARM, Alaska Housing’s Energy Efficiency (AHFC) modeling program, the building would receive a 6-star plus rating, the highest rating in Alaska for energy efficiency.