ENERGY EFFICIENT LIVING

Our timber frame homes are enclosed with SIPs (structural insulated panels) creating a high performance building envelope that will significantly lower your heating and cooling loads and thus reduce your energy costs.

SIPS AND ENERGY STAR RATINGS

In our timber frame homes and buildings, we use SIPs. The use of SIPs has become widely recognized as being far superior to other methods for sealing and insulating buildings. SIP panels are automatically exempt from the blower door test due to the incredibly high performance of our building process.

RENEWABLE, SUSTAINABLE & ABUNDANT

National forestry records show that North American forests cover about the same amount of land as they did 100 years ago, even though 97% of all homes are framed with wood and wood products and North Americans use more wood per capita than anyone else in the world. This amazing feat is due primarily to advances in agriculture (which have enabled us to grow more on less land) and sustainable forest practices. In the U.S. and Canada, more than 225 million acres have been independently certified as sustainable forests, an amount equivalent to more than twice the size of California.

USING SOLAR ENERGY IN YOUR TIMBER FRAME HOME

Free light may be the best and simplest use of solar energy but the second best is to use it to heat water for your home. To best heat water, have solar collectors installed on the roof of your timber frame home or somewhere on the site close to the home. The collectors are filled with an anti-freeze fluid that runs into the timber frame house and passes through a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger then heats water that can be used to heat or supplement the heat source of the home.

USING ENERGY EFFICIENT WINDOWS

High-performance Low-E insulating glass lowers energy costs, helps homes stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, prevents fading of interior furnishings, and reduces condensation. Windows and patio doors with Low-E glass are also ENERGY STAR® qualified, which means they exceed the minimum energy efficiency criteria for the climate region you live in (by as much as 40 percent).

INDOOR AIR QUALITY

Your home’s indoor air quality is of utmost importance to us and our panel manufacturer. Living in a SIP home allows for better control over interior air quality by creating an air tight envelope. The use of mechanical ventilation filters out contaminants and allergens and also dehumidifies incoming air to help prevent mold growth. SIPs do not contain any VOCs or other harmful chemicals that can affect occupant health. The components used to make SIPs (foam, OSB, and adhesive) meet some of the most stringent standards for indoor air quality. SIP homes have qualified under the American Lung Association’s Health House® program that has stringent standards for indoor air quality.