Local log home manufacturer environmentally friendly

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April 7, 2008

Anonymous The Press Republican Mon Apr 07, 2008, 12:00 AM EDT

Cedar Knoll Log Homes embraces environmentally friendly practices

By DAN HEATH

PLATTSBURGH -- A local log-home manufacturer is greener than the leaves of its trees.

Cedar Knoll Log Homes employs several environmentally friendly practices in its business model. Owner Ron Marx said the company, located on Military Turnpike in Plattsburgh, finds uses for all of its by-products, including scrap lumber, sawdust and shavings.

"Our goal is to avoid wasting any of it," he said.

When Cedar Knoll peels the bark and outer layer of wood from its logs, that material is moved into a mulch pile.

"In the spring, we grind it up, and it goes back into the world as mulch."

The mulch is sold locally, he said.

Sawdust and shavings are blown through Cedar Knoll's automatic-collection system to a storage building. Cedar Knoll has a contract to supply the material to Carter Farms on Moffitt Road in Plattsburgh, where it is used for bedding for the cows.

Larger pieces of scrap wood are saved and used to help heat the Cedar Knoll kilns and buildings.

Wins award

The company won an award from New York state on Oct. 25, 2002. The Governor's Waste Reduction and Recycling Award for Woodworking was given to the business based on efforts that resulted in saving 4,000 board feet of waste per day.

Marx said that when his employees make cuts on logs, the first slab cut off in the shape of an arc contains wood that would otherwise be wasted. The end pieces are converted into wood chips, but the middle section is processed into wainscoting.

Green-certified lumber

For the past four years, Cedar Knoll has been involved with the Sustainable Forest Initiative. The company buys its green-certified white cedar lumber from J.D. Irving Limited, a Sustainable Forest Initiative-certified company based in St. John, New Brunswick.

According to the Sustainable Forest Initiative Web site, certification involves an audit proving that program practices are being met, renewable every five years. It also requires certification that the company meets Sustainable Forest Initiative's chain-of-custody standards.

The certified companies must have written policies to help achieve principles such as sustainable forestry, preservation of forest and soil health, protection of water resources and biological diversity, legal compliance and continual improvement.

Cedar Knoll recently added Green Mountain Eco Homes of Colchester, Vt., as one of its authorized dealers.

In a news release, Marx said, "As a green manufacturing facility, we are also delighted that Green Mountain Eco Homes brings with it a focus on alternative energy consumption and environmental conservatism."

Green Mountain Eco Homes offers energy-saving practices, such as geothermal heating and cooling systems, radiant floor heating systems, solar hydronics, tankless water heaters, wind turbines and photovoltaics.

Cedar Knoll also offers JELD-WEN products, such as its AuraLast wood windows, doors and door frames. According to the JELD-WEN Web site, that water-based process for wood preservation reduces harmful volatile organic chemicals by 96 percent compared to the more common solvent-based dip-treatment process.

Marx said Cedar Knoll continues to support New York State Electric & Gas in its NewWindEnergy initiative, where customers agree to purchase wind-generated electricity.

dheath@pressrepublican.com