A garage is not just a place to shelter your vehicles from the rain, snow, bird droppings, dirt and dust; this is the place where you keep your belongings, either to make space in your house or to keep dangerous things out of the reach of children. Whatever the reason, one thing for sure is that only really a few people use their wooden garages just to park their cars in. In almost every home, garages serve a multitude of purposes. In such instance, why not invest in a garage that can benefit you in even more ways.
Thinking how? Simple by investing in a wooden garage rather than a steel garage or a concrete garage. Fortunately, many housing companies have come forward to help people carry out a lifestyle that is environmentally aware and many housing companies are working towards improving the planet’s current condition. These days, companies are building eco-friendly log garages for consumers who are interested in a green lifestyle.
Generally, people think that even concrete garages are environmentally friendly because the main constituent, concrete, is made using rock and earth. It is true that concrete originates from earth and rock, by grounding into a fine powder, but when concrete is used for the construction process, a number of other raw components are also used, water being the most important of all. So, in the process a lot of water is used and subsequently gets wasted, which is not so environmentally friendly. Pollution of water occurs in every stage of the process, from the extraction of concrete through to its final application. Moreover, when this water becomes groundwater or flows into the rivers, the natural environment can become polluted.
So, choosing wooden garages makes more sense. Also remember that creating an ecologically friendly environment doesn’t just prove helpful for the planet but also provides you with social, health, aesthetic and economic benefits. In simple words, living in balance with the environment makes more sense; and to build a garage with logs ‒ a sustainable resource ‒ makes more sense. Ecologically friendly contemporary wooden garage floor plans include everything from the choice of construction design and practice, building materials, landscaping, equipments as well as waste disposal. On the other hand, when talking about the disposal of concrete, then in its final form as waste concrete is not environmentally friendly or biodegradable. Generally, it has to be smashed up and disposed of in chunks.
Building a ‘green’ wooden garage begins with the basic setting and garage design. Your garage should be positioned so that it gets maximum exposure to sun. The size and the placement of windows, heating and cooling options, heights of ceiling, lighting, landscaping and choices of stains and finishes all add to making your wooden garage green, sustainable, eco-friendly and cost effective. In addition, by using logs instead of commercial lumber you can decrease the amount of processing, handling and time that most conventional garage need. Unwanted younger trees are not cut unnecessarily; only timber whose main use is for home building is harvested. This not only keeps costs low, but also reduces transportation expense for fuel and processing.
The fact that wooden garage plans use wood ‒ a renewable resource ‒ makes these structures eco-friendly. As trees are cut down, new trees are planted. Most manufacturers of wooden garages are involved in reforestation programmes, so more trees are grown than harvested. Trees are not only a renewable resource, but all parts of trees are used with the least waste. Barks are recycled for bedding, mulch and landscaping. Trunks are used in the construction of wooden garages and the branches can be used to build furniture. As wooden garage walls don’t need additional finishing, fewer chemicals or chemical based materials are needed, and therefore more money can be saved. Some building materials are usually processed with dangerous chemicals, which may, over time, cause health issues for your family members. Wooden garages are constructed in such a manner that they use water, energy and other resources efficiently, thus decreasing waste and pollution.
Chemicals that are used in the construction process of conventional garages are not tested for their effects on human health. As a result, the negative effects that they can have on garage owners are not discovered until the signs of illness appear. Wooden garages also use less metal fasteners in the construction process, which reduces costs. As the stability and solidity of a wooden garage doesn’t depend upon its fasteners, but on the weight of the logs, the energy efficiency also increases with the passing of time, in comparison to the decreasing of energy efficiency that occurs in conventional garages. Several studies have also been conducted to measure the thermal properties of wooden garages versus conventional garages. These studies show that wooden garages outperform other types of garages by 17%. The design and location of garages, the doors and windows along with the climate all affect the thermal properties of a structure, but the main difference is due to the solidity and thickness of the logs.
Another advantage of a wooden garage construction is that if, due to any reason, the structure is demolished, its component parts i.e. the logs, can be recycled, because logs are very valuable and seasoned logs are always in demand. As almost everybody needs a garage, consider how wooden garages can best serve both your family as well as the environment. Green buildings support the use of environmentally friendly resources in building personal use structures as they are considered to be a cost-effective approach for not only the owner, but also the builder. By investing in a fully-insulated wooden garage you will be able to gain more benefits by cutting down on your heating and cooling costs.
Also, you could try using Compact Light bulbs or CFLs or LED lights to illuminate your garage. As compared to traditional incandescent bulbs, CFLs last ten times longer, as well as use about 75% less energy and produce 90% less heat. Always remember that a beautiful garage does not necessarily have to be made using concrete. A wooden garage can be anybody’s dream garage because, aside from its beauty, the benefits it can give are incomparable.
