When you decide to live in a log home, you’re already going green. You’re naturally easing your impact on the environment and saving on heating and cooling bills. But with a little more planning, you can build on those advantages while continuing to enjoy all of your home’s comforts and modern amenities.
Logs are the ultimate natural material, sustainably harvested and minimally processed. They also provide insulation that helps keep rooms warm in the winter and cool in summer.
For greater benefit, carefully consider the way you position your home on its site. The direction it faces can make a substantial difference in gaining the most natural light and warmth from the sun. Estemerwalt experts will visit your property to work with your contractor to identify the best orientation based on its exposure to the sun in all seasons. This will maximize not only solar benefits, but the views you and your family will enjoy year after year.
Estemerwalt also promotes green building by producing materials in an eco-friendly way. Kilns that remove moisture from lumber at the company’s mill in Honesdale, Pa., are powered by the sawdust that the mill creates, saving 240 gallons of fuel each day.
For the property around your home, consider favoring native plants and gravel. By choosing a variety of plants that grow naturally in your area, you’ll fill your yard with greenery and flowers already well adapted to the local conditions that can thrive with less watering, fertilizer and pesticides. They also provide a familiar home for local wildlife.
A driveway of dirt or gravel is a more ecologically sound choice than asphalt or other impermeable surfaces that prevent rain and snowmelt from soaking into the ground and create greater runoff and erosion.
Be sure to ask your Estemerwalt representative for additional strategies to attune your log home to its surroundings to maximize conservation and energy savings.
