Timber Frame Construction Sustainability

Modern timber frame home construction is a perfect marriage between old world craftsmanship and new world technology.  Many timber frame homes built today are among the most energy efficient out there.

Keeping it Local

Chances are, the timbers harvested for your timber frame project won’t travel very far before they arrive at our shop for joinery.  We work with a number of local sawyers and sawmills that provide our White Pine and Hemlock, the two predominant softwood species used for timber frame construction here in the north east.  Since most of our frames celebrate beauty and strength in the form of hardwood braces we also source our red oak, black cherry, maple, and ash brace stock from these sawyers.  Once at the shop local craftsmen meticulously lay out, cut, and finish each timber.

Natural Form Wood

While a majority of the timber used for timber frame construction is sawn square and straight there are places and times where the art and beauty of a naturally curved tree can be celebrated in a timber frame.  Natural form timbers are often hand hewn with a broad axe before being scribed to adjoining timbers, creating a seamless joint.  Incorporating these natural forms of nature as braces or as a centerpiece of an entry-way or great room is an excellent way of honoring the beauty found in the natural form of trees.

 

Handcrafted Beauty, Timeless Designs

Unlike many buildings currently being built, erected, and ‘set’, a timber frame home or barn that goes up today can be expected to be standing many generations from now.  By honoring the craft and the wood in a timber frame today we can hope that the structure will be honored in the future through adaptation, reuse, and rehabilitation.

 

Our own Sustainable Efforts

Here at home and at the shop we have taken steps to lessen our impact on the earth.  A state of the art solar system provides a majority of the power needs for both the house and the shop.  Wood cutoffs from the timber work is utilized to heat the shop in the winter and the sawdust and shavings are spread over our garden paths as mulch. Working from home a portion of the time also provides for a great quality of life as well as reducing our carbon footprint from commuting.