24'x40' Ecolog Log Home in Central Saanich

Ecolog Show Home near VictoriaIn 2010 we built an Ecolog home in Central Saanich, near Victoria, British Columbia. This home served as a show home for our West Coast customers for several years. The custom log home design is based on the floor plan called "The Victorian", which is described on this page in detail.

The construction process for this log house kit was used to validate some design improvements, which we developed specifically for our West Coast customers:

  • Strengthening of all timber connections to satisfy seismic requirements
  • Improved construction techniques to conform with building envelope and energy performance requirements in British Columbia
  • Intergration of other design elements like cedar shingle siding for dormers and gables, natural stone siding, artistic metal railings and more.

This home also demonstrates the integration of some eco friendly features into Ecolog homes like

  • ICF basement construction - very energy effecient walls, reduced waste, fast erection
  • Solar hot water system
  • Solar powered radiant floor heating
  • Energy efficient german style tilt-turn windows from Vera-DE Windows in Courtenay 
  • Home automation system to improve safety and security while saving on energy
  • Minimize environmental impact by using locally produced products where available
    • All wood for walls, roof trusses, roof sheating, floors and framing comes from the Cowichan Valley (Hemlock and Fir)
    • Cedar shingles for dormers and gables from Cowichan Valley
    • Yellow cedar for interior stairs and red cedar for outside stairs and deck from East Sooke
  • Use of natural materias wererever possible (solid wood floor, eco friendly water based stains, etc.)
  • We did a blower door test as part of an official Energuide rating process. The results are great - we achieved an Energuide rating of 79, where typical new frame construction homes built to code are between 65 and 72. This proves that our Ecolog homes are very energy efficient.

Update 2017: As we are planning to build another Ecolog home on Vancouver Island we sold the Ecolog home in Saanich. The home sold less then 24 hours after putting it on the market at full list price! This is another proof that there are lots of people who love these kind of homes, and that Ecolog homes have an excellent resale value.