Cindee Karns

The pictures are up on Zillow for the Alaskan Bioshelter.  Check it out!  https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3901-Delores-Dr-Eagle-River-AK-99577/58828_zpid/

Just in case any of you want to move north and buy the Bioshelter: it's for sale.  We are moving back to our hometown 350 miles north of Anchorage.  It won a national award in 1987 for Energy, it's a passive solar house.  It recycles all of its water and waste.  (except the city of Anchorage made us put in a flushing toilet if we wanted to do any upgrades, so now we have both flushing and composting.). After we moved in in 2008, we started learning about Natural Building.  We built a 24x24 straw/clay greenhouse that can grow watermelon, and a cord wood sauna.  We have a big garden on the garage roof along with seven 2x8' garden boxes on the ground.  We are very concerned that someone will buy it for the view and not for the sustainable living aspect.  

Questions?  you can email us at alaskanbioshelter@gmail.com

Thanks. Cindee and Curt

This may be in the archives now, but I wanted all of you to know that we are leaving the bioshelter and moving north, back to our hometown.  It will be for sale this fall and we need someone to really love all the natural build stuff as well as the house.  Sends inquiries to alaskanbioshelter@gmail.com

We live in a Bioshelter in Alaska. We have an expensive HRV unit that pulls the moisture out of the house so our clothes aren't moldy! We are buried into the side of the mountain so our temp. doesn't get below 38 degrees even if it's -20 outside. We have a masonry stove that heats the core of the house. This house won a national award in 1987 and most people (even in Alaska) don't know about it. It IS illegal because we don't have a well or a septic and recycle all of our waste water. The only thing that leaves the house is urine and that leaves via the garden in the summer. Check out our website: http://alaskanecoescapepermaculturecenter.wordpress.com/bioshelter/ Check out our blog here: http://bioshelter.blogspot.com/ I do virtual tours via SKYPE for $75 that you could schedule if you like. It's sometimes easier that way to answer all of the questions. You can also google Alaskan bioshelter for all of our You Tube videos that are out there. Note: we DO love having green all year around in this cold climate. The 49th Estate

OOPS This was supposed to go in the bioshelter section and I don't know how to move it!

We live in a Bioshelter that collects rainwater from 2 roof drains and runs it through our solarium sand/gravel filter before it goes into the cisten. Check it out here: https://alaskanecoescapepermaculturecenter.wordpress.com

It was built and got a national award in 1985/87. We bought it in 2008 and this summer the roof started leaking. After much research, we found what the builder originally put on the roof for safe drinking water. Here's the link: http://www.cimindustries.com/products/cim-product/cim-1061/

It's spendy, but when it comes to safe water..... gotta have it.

We are zone 3 or 4 in Anchorage, so it looks like you can grow more than we can. How long is your growing season? That might be the same. I would like to connect with you!

Thanks, Rob, for answering. We are in Zone 2 at a pretty high elevation in the mountains above Anchorage. I know that R19 isn't going to cut it, however, if it has a lot of airflow, I wouldn't have to spend all the money I am right now on the electric HRV unit to move air in and out of our very tight house now. I like the idea of putting an air space in the middle---cool idea. Or maybe straw/clay in the middle. That breathes.

I will share your responses with folks up here, so that maybe someone will try it out and do the research.

I've always been interested in cord wood, but have heard it just doesn't do well in cold temperatures. (-20 F.) Does it lose more heat than a log cabin because of the material between the wood? I guess I should really read Rob's book.

Hey Cecil!

We DO have one in the works for fall and in PALMER!! Perhaps at the Kellog Farm. But the pieces aren't all together yet, so I can't advertise. Send me your contact info @ alaskanecoescape@yahoo.com and I'll keep you in the loop!

SO GLAD TO MEET YOU!

Cindee Karns

I, too, would like to hear what Diane says to this. I get the whole tipping point idea, but somewhere deep down there's a principle that we need to think about: "Use and Value Diversity – “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides."