Building Sustainable Green Log Homes

Robert Wrightman's True North Log Home was proudly featured on pages 46-51 of the October Edition of Green Builder Magazine as 75% of the lumber used to build the 3,300 square foot structure were locally sourced and FSC certified.  As the article states, this is both Wrightman's family home and a lasting example of the quality, workmanship and environmentally friendly display of True North's log home products.

This particular home is based on the Citadel design, one of many log home plans offered by True North and is indeed a model of sustainability and green building best practices, which includes radiant floor heating, spray-foam insulation and boosted soundproofing via sheep's wool stuffed in the interior walls.  Technology, in the form of a special log lock system developed by True North, also boosts the energy efficiency of the home.  Logs shrink as they dry and in many log homes this leads to gaps and air penetration; however, the patented log-lock compression system actually forces the logs of these homes closer together as they dry, thereby cutting down on potential heat loss. True North even offers the only 25-Year "Zero" Air Filtration Warranty in the log home industry. Other green building enhancements can include solar panels for electricity/heat and high-efficiency windows.

Each white pine log is specially cut in the factory to ensure an air-tight fit.

However, the truly sustainable component of this, or any log home, is the fact it has been built using relatively raw logs. Much less manufacturing and chemical treatment needs to go into a log home. Further, wood by its very nature is more insulative that many other building materials meaning less processed insulation needs to be added.

For those who are interested in building a unique and beautiful dream home, while also doing their part to help protect the environment, a log home is certainly worthy of consideration.

A LEED Log Home with Many Firsts and Few Equals

Timeless Mountain Homes, an independent True North Log Homes representative in the United States, is a leader in building sustainable LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified, HealthyBuilt and Energy Star homes. It's important for log home manufacturers and builders alike to acknowledge the importance sustainability and the role they play in maintaining it. The goals in building a LEED certified home are lower energy and maintenance costs coupled with an overall respect for the environment.

Among this partner's impressive accomplishments is an innovative project called Outaspace. Built to exacting standards; utilizing both age-old energy efficiency best practices, locally sourced building materials and the latest in log home technology from True North, Outaspace is an 8,000 square foot, environmentally-friendly Blue Ridge Mountain paradise. In fact, this particular structure has the following distinctions: 

• Largest LEED certified log home in the USA 
• First independently certified LEED log home in North Carolina 
• First independently certified log home in the southeast and second in the entire USA

The unique three-level lodge boasts six bedrooms, each decorated with a mountain theme likewise incorporating locally obtained, sustainable furnishings. The lodge, with an expansive great room and eating area, will and has comfortably hosted up to 22 overnight guests.

Addressing the building's interior or exterior you are instantly struck by the way it blends into its natural environment, including some virtually untouched logs cleverly used as deck supports.

Additional photos and floor plans for this spectacular model along with several other custom log home designs are available on the True North Log Homes website.

Log Home Carbon Footprint and Green Construction

Continued interest in buildings that are better for the environment, healthier for occupants and more cost-efficient to operate is helping to drive the popularity of green building. Log home buildings excel as it relates to carbon footprint. The logs in a True North log home are the first step towards building a negative carbon footprint home.

Read all about green log home building here!