“The Holiday Apartments Straw House – farm Holiday The strawbale house was constructed with jumbo strawbales allowing superb insulation and a healthy, very comfortable atmosphere. The appartements have been arranged with all natural materials such as wooden furniture, terracotta-flooring and clay walls. The room atmosphere is magnificent, and is enhanced by large windows, light colours   Read more from > Building with Jumbo Straw Bales

“Earlier this year, my colleagues Ace McArleton of New Frameworks Natural Building, Ben Graham of Natural Design/Build, and I conducted extensive blower-door testing, infrared thermography, and a series of moisture tests (probe, pin, and scan) on seven different buildings we had built in part or whole over the past seven years in Vermont and New   Read more from > Energy Performance of Straw Bale Buildings

Installing window quilts is one of the simplest, easiest ways to save on energy costs. It’s right up there with caulking, weather stripping and adding extra roof insulation in terms of rapid payback. Window quilts would probably pay for themselves in just one or two seasons. With something so simple and obvious you’d think more   Read more from > Slash Energy Bills with Window Quilts

1. Safe Choice – Wool insulation is a natural resource that is environmentally friendly. 2. Flame Resistant Wool is naturally flame resistant and complies with the Australian Standards for flame resistance. When tested they found the following results: Wool Insulation Advantage On a Scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being the best. Ignitability 0   Read more from > Wool Insulation

There are lots of options for building insulated earthbag houses. At this time, scoria and pumice are my favorite. These materials are fireproof, rot proof, easy to work with, don’t attract pests, lightweight, etc. Kelly Hart pioneered the use of scoria bags in his dome home and carriage house in Colorado, and in my opinion   Read more from > More Choices for Insulated Earthbag Houses

Just when you thought you’d seen it all, here’s a new way to insulate basement walls with foam glass by Misapor. More on this topic at my Geopolymer House Blog. (The same material can be used to make lightweight insulating plaster, concrete, etc.) “Until now, Misapor has mostly been known for providing horizontal insulation. Now   Read more from > Vertical Wall Bags