Thisgaard’s daughter should not grow up in a metropolitan apartment filled with dangerous chemistry

So they moved in the countryside and built a timber house.

Sustainability meant everything to us when we started the house, says Christinna Thisgaard. In December 2017, she and her husband set out to replace the apartment in Copenhagen and build a sustainable log house in Nørre Snede.

When it is not enough sun this house gets natural heat that the soil beneath their house absorbed from the sun’s rays. When 3-year-old Victoria’s dresses go for a walk in the woods the family doesn’t have to worry about the water bill for washing her clothes in the afternoon. They use rainwater that the house collects in a large tank in the backyard.

The place where family make dinner, is not a new and smoothly polished cook island, but at an old grocery counter they’ve found used. Yes, in fact, all furniture in the log house in Nørre Snede (except for the dining room table and chairs) has been found in flea markets and by strolling through the Blue Newspaper for used furniture and accesories.

Wood is the building material of the future

The great advantage of building in wood is that it is cheap and saves the atmosphere for a large amount of CO2. For every cubic meter of wood used as a substitute for another building material, the climate saves an average of two tones of CO2.

In general, the market for timber construction is growing rapidly, but Denmark still has far behind of the front runners such as Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany, which have all pushed the timber constructions.

Wood can easily act as a load-bearing material in large buildings. In Norway and Sweden, it is used everywhere from skyscrapers and universities to corporate offices and cultural houses.

The Thisgaard family and their 105 sqm (measured on living space) large wooden house of Lithuanian silver pine stands as a shining example of how to create their own sustainable home – it was designed and built according to the most climate-friendly principles of the time.

“Sustainability meant everything to us when we started with planning of the house,” says Christinna Thisgaard, a health coach and house wife.

“We stood strongly for our demands – even though the requirements meant that we often had to think of more alternative solutions.”

She and her husband, Christian Thisgaard, who is the Nordea branch director, both grew up in central Jutland, but lived in an apartment on Frederiksberg in Copenhagen when they made the decision to move closer to nature and live more sustainably. “I don’t know how many hours we spent reading online about everything from paint to insulation to finding the most sustainable solution that met our requirements. We did not want to compromise on the house where we hope to live for the rest of our lives, ”says Christinna Thisgaard.

Sustainability is the highest fashion

In general, the climate and sustainability – as the recent parliamentary elections also clearly showed – are increasingly an issue that interests the Danes. In 2018, used clothes market accounted for 7.2 billion DKK – an increase of 28.5 per cent compared to two years earlier . Organic food sales are buzzing, and Denmark is the country where ecology makes a big influence in any market share. And now the turn has come to construction bussines , says Steffen Max Høgh, who is an expert on sustainability and hosts on the sustainable business podcast series.

„Our way of building today is inappropriate, which is why we must also refrain from building in concrete and cement.“  Steffen Max Høgh, sustainability expert

“Especially the younger generation, the” millennial generation, “live and breathe sustainability in everything they do,” he says. “They putting it in the shopping cart, they concider if it is recycable, and they are diligent users of the sharing economy schemes – whether it’s renting children’s clothing, carpooling or Airbnb. It is cool now to think about the environment, climate and nature. ” Steffen Max Høgh emphasizes that although there are, after all, few who, like the Thisgaard family, have the opportunity and ability to build their own sustainable log cabin, there is a clear trend.

A report from the Nordic Council of Ministers shows that a timber house with a lifespan of 120 years has a footprint of 2.2 kilos of CO2 per year per square meter, which is 44 per cent less than a similar house built of concrete, which is one of the great climate culprits. In fact, construction alone accounts for 10-15 per cent. of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

“Our way of building today is inappropriate, which is why we also need to move away from building in concrete and cement. Here, wood is a great alternative. It is the world’s most sustainable building material, and you can see it as CO2 batteries that, through photosynthesis, suck and retain large amounts of CO2 that are only released again when the wood burns or goes into decay. And for wood you cut, you can plant a new one, which also ensures a stable and sustainable production, ”says Steffen Max Høgh.

The childhood memories- the main driving force

The Thisgaard family moved into their log house in Nørre Snede last December. For the family man, Christian Thisgaard, the dream of a log house goes all the way back to childhood. He and his parents lived for a while in a log house, and the very special scent and mood that was in that house stood in the memories when the Thisgaard family themselves started thinking about there own house almost three years ago.

“There is a completely different atmosphere when you enter a log house. Even if you are inside, it still feels like you are outside, because nature is so close, “says Christian Thisgaard, who adds: “It is the smell of wood and the light that falls through the windows that makes it very special. And then the indoor climate is different than in other houses, because the house also breathes. ”

Christinna Thisgaard has strongly supported her boyfriend that sustainability should play a big role in their future housing project. She has always been interested in health as a trained health coach. But it boosted when she got pregnant with daughter Victoria. The thoughts needed to be turned into action.

“I started thinking about being a mother. Everything you put in your mouth comes into your system, and so does the air you breathe, ”she says. »Most homes are filled with harmful chemicals – they are in the paint on the walls and flame retardants in the textiles. It is not good for us humans, nor is it good for nature and the environment. ” “I actually got really upset with the way we lived and that lifestyle I didn’t want to pass on to our daughter,” says Christinna Thisgaard.

Nørre Snedes green village

The start of project Sustainable Log House was one evening when the couple sat on their couch in the small apartment on Frederiksberg and watched a documentary on sustainable construction projects. It kindled a fire in both of them, and by the time the program was over, they had already begun to look for building sites for sale on the computer. Both Christinna and Christian Thisgaard were raised in Jutland, close to nature and forest, and therefore, they were happy when they found the building site in Nørre Snede.

The start of project Sustainable Log House was one evening when the couple sat on their couch in the small apartment on Frederiksberg and watched a documentary on sustainable construction projects. It kindled a fire in both of them, and by the time the program was over, they had already begun to look for building sites for sale on the computer. Both Christinna and Christian Thisgaard were raised in Jutland, close to nature and forest, and therefore, they were happy when they found the building site in Nørre Snede.

“The area we live in is a small, sustainable village. Back in the 1990s, one of our neighbors got the idea to set out 20 land plots for sustainable projects, all of which must adhere to a specific set of sustainability rules. Some have solved the task by building in recycled materials, while others have built straw houses or – like us – a log house, ”says Christian Thisgaard.

The plot was perfect. It was close to water and with the woods as a back yard and even at a price that was payable and possibility to build a log house. Not so long after looking around newly-born parents’ couple moved out of the capital and thus came a step closer to the dream of living close to nature.

Paint and flooring gave a headache

It took almost four months from the purchase agreement signed until the house’s exterior walls were erected in the summer of 2018. Despite the fact that Thisgaard family would mostly like to have a clean log house built according to old tradition, in new construction there is a sea of ​​building requirements that must be met – like the requirement that newly built houses must be insulated.

“We certainly didn’t want to use rockwool that you typically use, and the alternative was that we got blown paper wool into the cavity of the walls instead, which is much more environmentally friendly. The wood also had to be protected from moisture and rot, but a lot of wood protection is packed with harmful chemistry that prevents the wood from breathing. Fortunately, we found another solution, a 200-year-old recipe for wooden tar, which consists only of natural materials, ”says Christian Thisgaard.

Because there are no easy solutions when you, like Christian and Christinna Thisgaard, choose to build completely sustainable. They had to pick up the chemical-free paint themselves in Germany, and even though they had preferred to see the floor laid by recycled planks, they could not find enough for the whole area. The compromise was FSC certified plank flooring, which guarantees that the used tree will be replanted. The roof of the log house also gave them headaches. “According to the sustainable guidelines we should follow, roofing cladding was a „no-go“ because it is difficult to break down. Here we had to think about longer-term sustainability. We ended up putting a membrane under the grass roof after the motto that it takes at least 40 years for it to be replaced, and at that time the membrane can be recycled for asphalt. Sometimes you have to use materials that are not ideal as a short-term solution, but which in the long run actually become sustainable anyway, ”says Christian Thisgaard.

Is wood the building material of the future?

Despite the hard work and the many decision challenges- it all has been all worth it. Their house was ready to move in early December 2018, proudly marks Christinna Thisgaard.

“It’s a pleasure to get up every day knowing that nature is right out the door. It’s an amazing feeling. Of course, it has been a long process – as for everyone else building their own house, but our house had just one extra factor to take into account in every decision we have to make – that it should be sustainable. But it never became a sour duty, ”says the 28-year-old health coach.

The sustainable log house in Nørre Snede

Christinna and Christian Thisgaard found the building site in December 2017.

The exterior wall with the hand-carved wooden beams was finished in summer 2018.

Although the house is built of wood, the outer walls should be insulated as this increase thermal efficiency and reduces the risk of moisture and fungus. This was done by blowing small pieces of paper into the cavities of the walls rather than using rockwool.

To protect the wooden beams from moisture , a 200-year-old recipe of wooden tar has been used, which consists only of natural materials rather than chemical-filled paints.

The couple has also found environmentally friendly alternatives to materials such as cement, concrete and vapor barrier.

At home part of her time she spends looking after her Instagram profile christinna_thisgaard, where she inspires her followers to a more sustainable and healthy lifestyle. Search engine will guide you to her page if you use recycling or sustainability in Danish (Bæredygtighed and genbrug)

In everyday life, the family buys everything used. They try to cut down on both air travel and meat consumption as well. The dream is to become more self-sufficient with vegetables from their own garden next summer. Although very few people live 100 percent sustainable, it is something that is filling more and more in people’s minds, believes Christinna Thisgaard.

Much indicates that in the future we will see even more sustainable wooden houses – both at home, but also in the rest of the world.

In France, Canada and Austria, the building regulations have been rewritten to promote the use of wood in construction, and in London they are building world’s tallest 53-storey wooden property now. However, this will be surpassed by the Japanese, who are planning to erect a 350-meter-high skyscraper of 90 percent made of wood. In the future, houses will increasingly be made of wood, says Steffen Max Høgh: “It is better for the environment, but it requires laws to be rewritten before the construction industry really moves in the right direction. And they should, because as I see it, sustainable construction is the next big competitive parameter. “