Summit Prototype Homesite
- View detailed information from the database on this site.
- Database Name: Buckland Prototype Home
- Status: Informational
- Location: Buckland
- Latitude: 65.977970
- Longitude: -161.131100
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Key DBAC Services:
- Site Assessment
- DBACs Awarded: 2012
- DEC File Number: 520.57.001
DEC contact: IC Unit, 907-465-5229
Site Narrative
- Requested by Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Standing on the Summit Prototype Homesite, Buckland, looking northwest toward the new and former bulk fuel-storage tank farms, July 2012. Photo courtesy Shannon & Wilson, Inc.
The Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC) applied for an assessment of the Summit Prototype Homesite in Buckland, Alaska in 2012. Housing is in seriously short supply in Buckland, and this project is critical to the community’s development objectives. The CCHRC project is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Due to reported petroleum releases at an adjacent tank farm, HUD asked that environmental conditions be clarified before releasing the funding to allow the construction materials to be shipped to the site. The timeline was tight because of the need to complete the project during the summer construction season, and construction materials were already staged for delivery to the village.
CCHRC asked DEC to evaluate the site for environmental conditions that would preclude its suitability for construction of a new residential development. The new single-family home planned for the site is a prototype for rural Alaska energy-efficient and sustainable housing design. This request ranked highest in the pool of brownfield assessment requests in 2012 because of the partnerships, plans, and funding already in place, the innovative design of the construction, and the environmental concerns impeding progress on the new development. DEC was able to get a contract in place in only a few short weeks, after which the site evaluation project was completed in only 14 days, including a site visit, interviews and final reporting. Upon completion, the materials were cleared for delivery to the community enabling the project to continue.
Prototype Home completed in Buckland. Photo courtesy of CCHRC, 2013.
DEC helped coordinate stakeholders, conducted a site visit, and performed a document review, with the final product being a letter report summarizing how environmental impacts could affect the use of the property as intended. This work directly led HUD to allow funding to be released for the project, making the site available for its intended purpose. Construction was completed in 2013.
Project Documents
Environmental Evaluation of Property – Summit Prototype Homesite, Buckland AK (PDF)