Choosing a Log Home

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Thermal mass storage benefits aren’t restricted to the structure of your home, Christian says. The type of floors, interior walls and even the size of your library and the type of furniture you own will affect the house’s thermal mass and energy efficiency.

Other factors that influence the energy efficiency of a log home include roof insulation, the heating system (preferably a renewable one), appliances (preferably energy efficient) and the home’s orientation to the sun, as well as the placement and type of windows to take maximum advantage of solar heat gain. But the combination of the thermal mass advantage and the cozy ambience of solid wood walls makes log homes an attractive choice for many people.

How Green Is Your Log Home?

Although it’s not always the case, log homes can be easier on the environment than conventional types of housing, particularly regarding all the energy used in a home’s manufacture, shipping and construction. “A log home can have lower embodied energy by a significant margin, particularly if locally sourced timber reduces the transportation energy cost,” Howard says.

Manufacturing a log home kit takes less energy than to cut, plane, package, ship, locally transfer and distribute framing lumber, especially since most lumber is shipped from regions outside the 500-mile distance criterion of LEED standards (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) set by the U.S. Green Building Council, according to Howard.

If a manufactured log home can offer some advantage in embodied energy, then a locally sourced, handcrafted log home shines in this category.

“The handcrafted log home is the poster child for value-added wood products because of its low embodied energy; it wins hands down,” Savignac says. “Someone with the proper training and experience who has a chain saw, a scriber, a measuring tape and a few other hand tools can turn a truckload or two of building logs into a beautiful home.”

There are a few other things you can consider to make your log home as sustainable as possible. In addition to using local logs, you also can ask if the timber came from sustainably certified sources. This is a particularly useful strategy when buying a manufactured log home, where the source of the logs may be harder to track than with a handcrafter. Standing dead timber also can be a good source for log homes, but beware of insect-killed timber, which might still have an active infestation.

“I’m not saying that everyone should be living in a log home,” Savignac says. “But you can replant trees, while it’s pretty hard to replant concrete or steel. Logs are an answer to the green building concerns that many people have today, both for environmental responsibility and for healthy lifestyles.”

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