Green Living - How Having More Log Homes Can Help the Environment?

In addition to their characteristic soft ‘earthly’ appearance, log homes – which represent one of the most historic and traditional approaches to home construction – have proven to be quite environmentally friendly too.

You might be wondering how this is possible, considering that log cabins ( just as the same name suggests ) are predominantly made of sawed trunks of previously huge trees. Well, here is a quick primer on that.

1. Superbly Energy Efficient, hence ‘Green’

While the average sheetrock or concrete apartment homeowner struggles to keep up with an ever-rising energy bill, occupants of log homes reportedly spend $2000 less annually on heating and air-conditioning costs. The same goes for hot water heating – which is not even necessary in a log cabin – and lighting.

The chief reason behind this being that a log home makes effective use of nature’s accommodation energy-friendly features such as better insulation during the chilly months and excellent ventilation in the summer. As a consequence, this protects the occupant from the ever-fluctuating energy bills by offsetting the need to maintain the interior temperatures artificially.

In other words, this means that if more people relocated to log homes – which have a better energy efficiency and conservation rates – we would be spending less as a country on air conditioning and heating every year.

2. Easier to go ‘Greener’ in a Log Home

Unlike your conventional sheetrock or plaster-patched home which is particularly designed to utilize expensive, energy-sapping air conditioning and heating mechanisms, building a log cabin is comparatively easier and has the ‘green’ status.

This implies that it easier to apply eco-friendly methods of running your home when in a log cabin than in your conventional apartment or condo. For instance, just to mention but a few;

a. The construction of log cabins makes it possible to substitute fibreglass/foam insulation with sheep’s wool as the main insulative between the logs. Bear in mind that sheep’s wool doesn’t have the same harmful petrochemical ingredients as industrial foam or fibreglass.

b.It is easier to use mortar instead of synthetic-based petrochemical chinking in a log home.

c. As an environmentally conscious homeowner, you can make the best use of a log home’s natural thermal energy-saving properties by modifying the cabin’s layout extensively.

3. Better Proximity to Solar Energy

As it often the case, log homes are situated in sparsely-populated areas, unlike in the concrete jungle where closely-constructed apartments are the norm. This lack of many surrounding/towering buildings means that it is comparatively less of hassle tapping solar energy and even living completely off the grid. And with affordable solar panels becoming increasingly accessible to many, this aspect of relying entirely on clean renewable energy is becoming more of a possibility by the day, thanks to log cabins.

4. Less Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Long Run

Given that the battery-like thermal construction model of log cabins can eliminate the need for the installation of conventional air-conditioners, there will be significantly lesser freon emissions to the environment if more people become more open to the idea of log homes. The same applies to the billions of dollars spent every year (and the consequential impact on the environment ) in heating up energy inefficient homes during the wintry months.