R - Value In Alaska

The wiki page I got this info from was"R-Value (insulation)" which is otherwise called heat resistivity. Not to be confused with U-Value which is otherwise called heat retention.

The best spray foam is Closed cell polyurethane spray foam. And a close 2nd is open cell polyurethane spray foam. These are all better than wood as an insulator

The following R-values are average per inch, based on available results:

Straw Bales: R-1.45
Wood Panels: R-2.5
Open Cell Polyurethane Spray Foam: R-3.6
Closed Cell Polyurethane Spray Foam: R-5.5
Silica Aerogel: R-10 (Best possible insulation for a window material. Hope it's available someday on the mass market.)

So if living in Alaska it would be wise to spend a tiny bit more to use spray foam in your cabin instead of wood. Spray foam is also easier to work with and can be sprayed onto a geodesic dome, with shingled plastic for water proofing utilizing "grip clips". The floor of cabins in Alaska are often dirt floors, but before installing any type of floor, just prevent flooding of a that floor in the geodesic dome, by halfway burying a solid water barrier material sheet around the perimeter of the dome.

You could also add heat retention(A.K.A. U-Value) to the already well insulated structure by putting moss or dirt on top of the geodesic dome. This is free, and only adds to the insulation quality, and also the natural woodsy look. But just spray foam or air foam should be enough insulation. And fire proof it all with a stucco coating.

Most cabins in Alaska are very small also because of the hassle of collecting more wood to heat bigger sized cabins. So a small one room cabin is normal in Alaska which means the cost of spray foam would be minimal, from such a small surface area to be insulated. Just be sure to make a sturdy geodesic dome out of hardwood(bamboo?) or metal bars so that the house can't collapse ever.

But there's nothing stopping you from making the same type of house in Florida with a total construction cost of about 300$. In other words anything that they do in Alaska to live independently can also be done anywhere else in the U.S.. But you would have to consider an outhouse and how to clean clothes. I discuss all of these considerations in my post called "permanent fort or camp". Also other posts are useful in constructing an independent homestead like the artificial aquifer post, and also earlier posts like the utopia now post, for info on an ideal community(Which is not possible). Or my old version of an independent homestead was the utopia list post, for more personal independence ideas, however outdated they are. But for diagrams of devices go to "New house design pics".