Waste not want not.

What if someone has to tear this house down in a hundred years because it wasn't maintained or built properly? Where does all the drywall and plywood go? How much can ever be re-used?

OK. OK. I know that we never build with the intentions of ever destroying the structure, but that's a reality now. Materials only last so long, tastes change, needs change, and eventually the dirt it's sitting on will be worth more than the shabby structure.

Where I live, there isn't a junk-yard for about a hundred miles; so, if you have an old car or boat or camper you don't want anymore - it is now very inconvenient to get rid of. Therefore, people tend to take care of what they have - handing it down instead of throwing it away.

Money for nothin'

What if someday there was no place to take a dumpster full of old building materials? I bet one of those 10,000 square foot trophy homes in Plano, Texas would take up quite a bit of space in the landfill if it had to come down (or fell down). Right now it is much too easy to haul our waste to a hole in the ground and say goodbye to it "forever". When a house is being built, there is usually a dumpster on site to haul away all of the scrap pieces of drywall and plywood, bits of 2x4's and empty buckets of paint. The bigger the house, the more waste.

Maybe we shouldn't build so big, and maybe we shouldn't use materials that will never return to the earth. Fiberglass insulation and spray foam work great, but they are far from bio-degradable.

Jay Schafer's Tumbleweed Houses are about as big as my kitchen, yet have been so completely planned and designed that they now define space efficiency in a home. Structured around the premise that "less is more", building a Tumbleweed House probably creates about one trash bag full of waste while the Plano trophy home created multiple dumpsters full.

Thermal Value and Materials

Last night I was talking with Ron Brummond about the thermal efficiency of a log home. He asked how it compared to a "regular" house and I couldn't remember any exact R-value numbers to give him but I told him it was very comparable to a conventionally framed home - only different. Alas, here's the data:
A material's R-value (factor) is it's ability to conduct heat (allow heat to pass through). So, yes, wood has a lower R-value than fiberglass insulation (around 1.8-2.0 per inch for wood, 3.3 per inch for fiberglass). Wood resists less heat than fiberglass. But, there's another issue when talking about thermal value (or efficiency).
A material's thermal mass potential must be considered. That is it's ability to trap and store heat. A material with a larger mass (such as logs) will have a larger heat storage value, therefore having a much slower rate of temperature change throughout the material. A log wall will have the ability to store heat to warm a house, not just create a barrier to the outdoors.
Materials
There are at least 9 layers in a conventionally framed wall. From the exterior siding to the interior drywall, each material is individually added to the building - fastened with a specific fastener, or applied with specific tool. Each comes with its own instructions and is manufactured and shipped from a different place on earth. Every different layer holds a value based on the distance it travelled, how much packaging it required and how much handling it took to reach its destination. I think that if a person can learn to frame, sheet, mud and paint a wall - they can learn to scribe-fit two logs together. Why so many layers?
Next we'll talk about building waste....

Everyone has a different idea of what type of house they would like to live in. Ideas develop from childhood through teen-age until having a home of ones own is necessary. It is then that the memories of past dwellings are analyzed and computed - thus forming an idea of their perfect home. What will my perfect home need to be? This is an equation with many variables, where compromise and balance attain the best result. These are some of the ideas I have:

Space

I don't need extra bedrooms, or huge ones when their purpose is for sleeping. I like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and people will congregate there. Bathrooms see the least amount of visitation, so they are allotted the least amount of space. I believe it is more practical to occupy a house that fits than to live in an over-sized home - hoping to fill it some day. Build a house that has enough space, but know you can always add to that space if necessary. Interior space can be matched to fit exterior space. I try to keep the houses' footprint to a minimum. Our dwelling is not only the four walls surrounding us but the spot on earth where we have built them. So, why fill the beautiful piece of land we call our own with a building who's main purpose is shelter? Luckily, there are options for more space - we can build up or down, into the side of a mountain or simply re-evaluate the use of what space we already have.

Efficiency

A properly designed house will utilize what area is allowed to satisfy its occupants needs. The location of rooms, sizes of each, heating and cooling systems, plumbing and electrical systems and materials used to construct all add to a homes efficiency. I like to have bedrooms tucked away, with bathrooms separating them from living space. A more central bathroom is nicer when having guests, being more accessible in an unfamiliar place. If bathrooms and kitchen can share a common wall, plumbing can be drastically simplified - reducing building costs and creating efficiency at the same time. Heating and cooling of a house is much simpler with a modest living space. A minimal amount of rooms, situated closer together, require less energy to move hot or cold air throughout. I have found that having less electricity available ultimately results in less electricity being used. How many lights does each room really need? If outlets are installed in every 4 feet of wall, chances are that something will be plugged into them. Window types and placement can substitute lights and fans just as non-electric devices can replace many household appliances. Less wiring equals less energy consumption equals less money.

Well, there will be much more philosophy later....