[Greenbuilding] 100 miles builds

[Chris Koehn]

Salt Spring Island is next door to us. I'm looking at it across the Satellite Channel as I type. I've built on Salt Spring. It is a special kind of place. Not only does it attract many well heeled, socially responsible types who can afford to pay sometimes substantial premiums to "do the right thing" (Randy Bachman lives there, etc etc); it's also within 100 miles of some of the most productive and abused forests in the world. Building with wood is a no brainer anywhere around here, and in fact I'd wager that your average local Joe Builder does a better job of this simply because it's cheaper to buy local wood than that which comes from the mainland- completely without regard for the more important question (IMHO) of how that wood was harvested and where it came from. More so on Salt Spring: it's an island only accessible by ferry, with few locally generated materials beyond wood, clay, and stone- and not all of these is being utilized sustainably.
So while I personally applaud this project, it's important to understand the specific conditions that come along with any effort to build local. It's more important to understand the qualities, drawbacks, and sustainability of local materials, how they have been used historically, and how we might maximize their usefulness and longevity to suit local climates and conditions.

Chris Koehn
TimberGuides Design & Build
Vancouver Island BC