Benefits of Building Timber Frame Homes - Part Two

Sustainable and energy efficient 

Continuing on from my last blog this is part two of the benefits of building with timber frame construction. The next benefit discussed will be very important going forward with the impacts of environment and cost of energy being a hot topic of most political agendas of late furthermore this issue is not going away. Homes need to become more energy efficient and cost affect to heat and cool. Therefore old ways of building homes in Perth are becoming less popular and light weight construction with low embodied energy is and will be better for the environment going forward.

Timber is the closest to nature of all building materials, there is very little work needed to get timber from its natural state as a tree to timber for ready use in construction. Therefore, it has one of the lowest embodied energies of all building materials. Especially when compared with brick and concrete. Manufacturing  bricks or making concrete takes a lot more energy to covert from its natural state to an end product. Therefore emitting more pollution into our environment than the manufacturing process of timber.

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Timber is great for sustainability as it stores carbon in its built and natural form, this carbon would otherwise be released into the environment as greenhouse gases. Further to this most countries that mill timber have codes to follow to ensure they are planting as much as they are cutting down and in some cases, more, therefore creating a better environment for us all to live in. Also, most timber is sold close to where it is milled therefore helping the local economies too.

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Timber frame construction allows for a lot more space to place insulation than a double brick home which makes it easier to insulate, if you wish to put in the same insulation bats as a timber frame home you will sacrifice more floor space when building double brick.  Also, timber itself can regulate temperatures quite quickly to ensure you use less energy on heating and cooling your home.  I can vouch for this myself as I have lived in both timber frame and double brick homes, timber frames home really do heat up and cool down quite quickly, reliving the occupant from hot summer days or cool winter nights.

A double brick home has more thermal mass than a timber frame home, thermal mass is the ability to hold on to the elements i.e hot or cold temperatures. Which is great if you live in a cool climate as it retains heat from the sunshine for much longer, but do you really want to retain the heat longer into the night on a 40-degree day in Perth? Or would you prefer to cool the place down quickly and therefore more energy efficiently in a timber frame home?

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Timber is overall the better choice for the environment and by deciding to build with this type of construction you are helping the environment around you, as well as your hip pocket.
If you want to know more about how timber frame could benefit you when building your home or next renovation or extension contact us at Distinct Renovations to find out how.