SUSTAINABLE LIVING
Living during a time when climate change, pollution, the destruction of the natural environment, and soaring fuel costs are truly legitimate concerns, it can be comforting to know that log homes are a great choice for sustainable living.
Today’s log homes are among the most environmentally friendly residential choices available, good both for the planet and for the people who live in them. Log homes can help restore, renew, and safeguard nature. The best-made log homes are manufactured with virtually zero waste. From every stage of their creation, from standing timber through construction to move-in, are responsibly built log home leaves one of the smallest carbon footprints of any residential choice. American Log Brokers defines green building as energy efficient, healthy and safe, durable, water efficient, environmentally responsible, and sustainable, as well as good air quality. Learn more below.
Responsible Logging
Some trees may be harvested strategically for log homes with the goal of optimizing the well being of trees left behind. Done correctly, this can allow remaining trees more room to grow and more direct access to sunlight and rain.
More importantly, however, is the fact that the smartest log homebuilders aim to use dead standing timber—trees that, at first glance, may look alive because they appear upright and strong, but have in fact died. One prime example of such trees are pines killed by beetle infestation, a major problem in America’s forests.
Dead standing trees scattered throughout the forests are removed selectively by helicopter logging. Helicopter logging is being used in response to the growing environmental concerns about traditional logging methods. On a helicopter site, the timber is felled in the conventional manner, but instead of being transported to the landing with a skidder or cable system, the logs are connected to a skyhook hanging beneath a helicopter and flown to the landing. This minimizes ground disturbance.
In many cases entire tracts of woodlands may be composed of dead standing timber, which are most efficiently removed by clear cutting. Either way, such dead trees have drier wood that is much more prone to catching fire from lightning strikes, sparking power lines, or careless campers. Caught alight, one such dead standing tree can lead to the devastation of vast living forests and related ecosystems.
Fortunately, most dead standing timber is prime material for log homes. Beetles, for example, attack only the cambium, the thin growing layer beneath the bark, leaving the rest of the timber unaffected. Since a tree destined for a log home will be milled down to its heartwood, any and all traces of infestation are eliminated long before construction.
In these fundamental ways, logs are a sustainable resource. And that fact alone makes log homes a superb green building option. But there are more good reasons still why log homes make great eco-friendly choices.
Less “Embodied” Energy
The term embodied energy is becoming more and more familiar among folks concerned about the environment. It refers to the sum total amount of energy expended to produce a product. For a brick wall, that would mean every bit of energy involved in digging up the clay, trucking it to the brickworks, building the molds, firing it in the kiln, trucking it to the store or brickyard or building site, similar energy for the mortar, and assembling the wall, plus a share of the energy expended to make all the machines or equipment used in every step of the process.
Athena Institute Eco Calculator
By this standard, the walls of a log home contain consume less energy than walls of brick and mortar, and also less than walls of milled boards. That makes logs a much more responsible building material choice for the wellbeing of our plane.
Waste-free Manufacturing
Once they reach the mill, responsibly harvested timbers go through a milling process that is a model of environmentally responsible manufacturing. Virtually no part of the tree goes to waste.
As mentioned, trees destined for log home construction are milled down to their heartwood and cut to length. But what, you may wonder, becomes of the parts that are milled or trimmed away?
When a manufacturer receives a log it is usually in the form of a cant. A cant is a round log that has had slabs cut off of the sides to make it square. These cants are ready to be run though the planer machine but before this happens they go through the first grading process.
Logs that have a large amount of cracks, bends, curves, bows, or other flaws are either rejected before they are even milled or are cut down to a smaller usable length. Logs may also be turned into playhouses, sheds, or garages.
Logs that make it through this process are first grade logs.
Logs go through a large planer which mills the tongue-and-groove pattern. It makes one face of the log round (the side that is on the outside of the log home) and mills the inside face of the log flat. This is done with tungsten carbide tipped cutter heads which make for an extremely smooth finish.
After the logs are milled they are cut to length according to a log layout. The log layout is a blueprint of the house and contains the exact length of every that is going to be used in the home.
When the log is cut to length, a small slab is cut off the front of the log to make it flat and smooth. Sometimes if the log has a crack which was not seen in the first grading process that portion of the log will be cut off to assure that it meets Grade A standards. These small trimmings from logs are sold as firewood.
Logs which are considered low quality are also cut up for dunnage (wood that planks sit on so they aren’t touching the ground as they dry) - or are used to make the borders for gardens.
Even the wood shavings from the planer machines that make the tongue-and-groove cuts that fit logs together are sold for horse bedding or to decorate and hold moisture in garden flowerbeds. Pine shavings are the best option for horse bedding because: It provides excellent cushioning; protects against respiratory issues; soaks up moisture, and reduces unpleasant odors.
Even the finest particles of sawdust finds use with environmentally friendly composting toilets or to soak up oil on shop floors.
Once a log home has been built, its value as a green living choice becomes all the greater. They absorb heat effectively and releasing it slowly. This leads to reduced heating costs in winter and reduces the need for air conditioning in the summer.