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PRESS
RELEASE March 19, 2003
CONTACT Mike Musick, CCHRC Project Manager
Mobile
Test Lab Delivered To UAS
The
Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC) located in Fairbanks,
Alaska delivered a Mobile Test Lab to the University of Alaska Southeast
(UAS) Technical Education Center in Juneau on Monday, March 3, 2003.
The Lab will be used to test different types of wall sections for
resistance to moisture problems. A major challenge in the wet and
windy climate of Southeast Alaska is building homes that will keep
the wood in the walls and roof dry and therefore not subject to
rot. The Mobile Test Lab was constructed with grant funding from
the Department of Energy's Build America in Alaska program. Under
this grant CCHRC is testing and promoting advanced building techniques
that will allow homebuilders in Alaska to construct more energy
efficient, durable, and healthy homes.
By the end of school on Tuesday, two construction technology students
at UAS had designed and built a rugged set of stairs to provide
access to the Mobile Test Lab (MTL). On Wednesday students were
installing a heat recovery ventilator in the workshop area of the
lab to control airflow and, with the aid of a humidifier, the relative
humidity in the test lab. By late Wednesday afternoon a weather
station was ready to begin transmitting data to a remote terminal
that records outdoor and indoor temperature and relative humidity,
wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, dew point, and rain
fall. A small photovoltaic panel powers the weather station.
Soon, under the tutelage of Marquam George, Assistant Professor
of Construction Technology at UAS, the students will design and
construct a number of different wall sections that will be installed
in the test bay of the Mobile Test Lab. The wall sections will be
monitored for a full year to see how they perform in Juneau's wet,
windy weather. The moisture content of the walls will be monitored,
along with temperature and humidity inside and outside of the Lab.
The Mobile Test Lab (MTL) is designed to be moved around the State
of Alaska to test walls, windows, doors, ventilation equipment and
so on. After testing walls, or windows, or doors, for a year or
two in Juneau it will be shipped by ferry to other communities in
Southeast Alaska to continue the search for affordable, durable,
safe, and healthy building components for buildings in Alaska. The
MTL can be barged by sea or river to rural villages or towed to
any community on the road system to take a critical look at present
building practices with an eye to developing Best Management Practices
for housing construction in all regions of the state.
The 8'x 8'x 24' Mobile Test Lab is constructed of fiberglass reinforced
plastic/ plywood glued to a 3" urethane foam core and mounted
on a custom trailer fabricated by Brett Rotermund, proprietor of
Bulletproof Trailers of North Pole, Alaska. The Lab can test nine
different 4'x 8'wall panels at one time or perhaps identical pairs
of walls on the north and south sides to see how wind and weather
affect performance. More Mobile Test Labs will be built as money
comes available. The project manager for the Building America in
Alaska program is Mike Musick of Ester, Alaska.
The sponsors of the Mobile Test Lab include the Alaska State Homebuilding
Association, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Fannie Mae Corporation,
University of Alaska Southeast, U.S. Department of Energy Building
America, and the Cold Climate Housing Research Center.
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