Log home construction

Interim changes to the National Building Code of Canada 2010 (NBC) that were published in December 2012 included incorporation of energy efficiency requirements for housing and small buildings. Some of the new requirements affect the construction of log homes. To help Code users understand these changes, the following questions and answers have been prepared.

There are a few really important Q and A’s on the NRC website. Read them all here.

Question 1:

Will the interim changes eliminate log homes from the Canadian landscape?

Answer:

No. The Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes (CCBFC) was keenly aware of the issues related to energy efficiency in log home construction. From the beginning, the committees working on these changes were concerned that the new energy requirements might eliminate log home construction, and they discussed the matter with the log home construction industry. The president of the BC Log and Timber Building Industry Association also attended a committee meeting, and two consultants working for the log home industry provided technical data to the committees. As a result, the lumber material data and calculation methods for log walls were made consistent with those used by the log home industry.