Cost Effectiveness of Alternative Window Systems in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Southcentral Alaska

Abstract

This research memorandum evaluates the cost-effectiveness of installing alternative window types in a prototype new home in Alaska. The analysis is performed for Anchorage, using natural gas as the fuel; and for the Southcentral and Fairbanks regions, using oil as the fuel. The comparison between baseline 1 and more efficient windows is structured as an investment analysis. We look at the incremental costs and benefits of the more efficient windows relative to the less efficient. All other variables, such as the cost of the walls, floors, and ceiling of the house, are held constant and therefore "drop out" of the analysis. Compared to double-paned R-1.7 windows, more efficient R-3.1 windows are cost effective in Anchorage under a wide of assumptions about fuel costs and construction costs. This result holds even more strongly in Fairbanks and Southcentral, where the cost of energy is far higher.