The Lindal Edge… An Expert’s Perspective

Dan Wise of State College, Pennsylvania has been an independent Lindal dealer for over twenty-five years. He became passionately involved in green building and certification on the local, state and national levels when the National Association of Homebuilders Research Center developed its green building standard.

Dan championed Lindal’s effort to be the first Green Approved building system under the ICC National Green Building Standard and became a vocal supporter of the Lindal-sponsored program for dealers to receive additional professional training and testing to become NAHB Certified Green Professionals in 2009.

Dan is an accredited verifier for the ICC Green Building Standard and has verified homes from Rhode Island to Ohio. He will also serve on the ICC Green Building Code Devolvement Committee for the 2015 code development cycle.

Dan is available to serve as green consultant to Lindal clients and their builders. He can be reached at 877-491-1854 or at dwise@granddesigngroup.us

We interviewed Dan to help you gain a better understanding of the Green Certification process and its benefit to homeowners. (more…)

Our very own Michael Harris, former CEO and now an independent Lindal dealer serving Seattle and NYC, as well as a driving force behind the Lindal Architects Collaborative, has been a guest contributor on Inhabitat.com for the past several months, putting together The Green Guide to Prefab.

Four of the six planned articles are now “live.” Starting with a two-part history of prefabricated homes (did you know that their roots are in the mobile home?), Michael has also written about how to site your prefab home to maximize eco-efficiency, and also how to choose a prefab home that fits your lifestyle. Future articles over the next several weeks will focus on budgeting for a prefab home project and a discussion on whether time can be considered a renewable resource when building a prefab home.

Four clients’ Lindal Experiences

by Michael Harris

From the Lindal Cedar Homes Flickr Photostream

Canada has always been important to Lindal Cedar Homes. Sixty-six years ago, Sir Walter Lindal founded the company in Canada, and we have always maintained a facility in Canada to process and ship our legendary lumber components to clients on six continents.

Lindal’s Canadian clients have traditionally been design innovators, and the homes they have created with our talented Canadian dealers have graced many of the most beautiful pages of Lindal planbooks.

Still, I wondered, why has Lindal’s nascent modern design program been so embraced by our Canadian clients? I set out to learn the answer by dialoguing with four owners of the first finished Lindal modern clients anywhere, spanning Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland. (more…)

From the Lindal Cedar Homes Flickr Photostream

For years, Gary embarked on Friday for the one-hour cruise to Gambier Island and a weekend of camping in an environment free of cars, crowds, and stress. A Vancouver resident who works long days evaluating businesses embroiled in conflict, the island has been his long-time weekend refuge.

When a small number of building sites became available on the island, Gary saw it as a rare opportunity to enjoy the solitude of the island in the comfort of a modern home with a free-flowing open interior, uninterrupted walls of glass that captured views of the water and dappled sunlight through the dense foliage. “I was inspired by the houses in Dwell, but concerned about the logistics of building on an island with no bridge or ferry connection to the mainland and no resident builders,” recalls Gary. “Then I discovered the Dwell Homes Collection. My partner and I explored how the Turkel Design collaboration with Lindal simplified the design process, the process of producing and delivering a precise package of extraordinary materials to a remote site, and the fact that the local Lindal dealer, My House Design/Build Team in Vancouver, was experienced in building on island sites. We felt comfortable proceeding.” (more…)

Halfway between edgy Montreal and Paris-quaint Quebec City, overlooking Lac Magog and a commanding view of Mount Orfird, is a Lindal that bridges two worlds.

“I had always wanted a home with exposed beams, warm and rugged. But at the same time, I was attracted to the modern edge of New York’s urban lofts. I could never find a design that offered both until I saw the Turkel Design Lindal. And I knew at that moment I had to have it!” exclaimed Dany. The low-pitched sweeping roof, and particularly the vast expanses of glass with all the horizontal and vertical elements perfectly aligned spoke to him of a striking sense of organization. “This was my builder’s first Lindal. He told me he had never built a home where the solid walls were organized around such meticulously organized windows, rather than individual windows being fit into large forgiving openings poked into walls. He also told me that this could only be possible with the quality of lumber he has only seen in my Lindal package.” (more…)

Rick and Sandy built their artists’ studio 2500 miles from their home in Toronto. Rick, a marketing director for a leading Canadian bank, and Sandy, a wildlife documentary filmmaker, are accomplished painters and sculptors in their leisure time. Rick reflects, “We considered many tranquil Canadian locations until we found the town of Woody Point and our home site one hundred meters above Bonne Bay in Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park.”

A welcoming community of only 400 full-time residents—“after knowing you for only six days”, marvels Rick, “they offer you the keys to their pickup trucks to retrieve supplies!”—with a writer in residence, summer writers’ and musicians’ festivals provides us the perfect cultural retreat.”

A site that remote, they knew, required a method of construction that was tried and true. “We wanted to create something rugged and pragmatic, but not cottage-y,” remarked Rick. (more…)