The organizations assembled for this project are focused on energy efficiency and capacity building in Alaska.
The Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC), located in Fairbanks, became the administrator for the project. CCHRC is a nonprofit organization with a mission to promote and advance the development of healthy, durable, and sustainable shelter for Alaskans and other circumpolar people. CCHRC staff brought experience with the audit and retrofit process to the project as well as project management capabilities and a deep knowledge of the Fairbanks area.
Funding for the project was provided by two Alaskan organizations, the Denali Commission and the Rasmuson Foundation. The Denali Commission is an independent federal agency working to provide economic development in rural communities; the Rasmuson Foundation is a private family foundation promoting quality of life for Alaskans. Both organizations brought a long-term vision for a self-sustaining energy efficiency program to provide overall direction to the pilot project. They also prioritized the goal of learning from the pilot project so that obstacles could be addressed head-on in future projects.
The Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC), a nonprofit organization based in California, joined the project to facilitate and administer loans for the retrofits. RCAC has experience with loan facilitation in Alaska and the capability to provide technical and financial resources in rural areas. The Foraker Group, which promotes a healthy, sustainable nonprofit sector in Alaska, contributed to the project planning. The Foraker Group’s work with Alaskan nonprofits allows it to identify and address the challenges facing nonprofits, especially in regard to energy costs and financing. Finally, the Arctic Alliance for People (AAP), a group dedicated to educating decision-makers about changing trends in human services, shared the pilot project with the local nonprofit community. AAP advertised the project to their nonprofit members, some of whom would go on to participate in the pilot cohort, and provided ongoing feedback on the project procedure and results.
