When it comes to energy efficient wall and roof assemblies, there are several alternatives to the conventional "stick" (wood stud) framed wall and roof construction now available and growing in popularity. They include:

Optimum Value Engineering (OVE) This is a method of using wood only where it does the most work, thus reducing costly wood use and saving space for insulation. However, workmanship must be of the highest order since there is very little room for construction errors.

Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) These are generally plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) sheets laminated to a core of foamboard. The foam may be 4 to 8 inches thick. Since the SIP acts as both the framing and the insulation, construction is much faster than OVE or it's older counterpart "stick-framing." The quality of construction is often superior too since there are fewer places for workers to make mistakes.

Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF) These often consist of two layers of extruded foamboard (one inside the house and one outside the house) that act as the form for a steel reinforced concrete center. This is the fastest and least likely technique to have construction mistakes. Such buildings are also very strong and easily exceed code requirements for tornado or hurricane prone areas.

Straw Bale Construction This alternative building method was pioneered in the United States more than a century ago and uses a plentiful by-product of agriculture - straw -as the primary construction material. Walls are finished with plaster and boast a very high insulation  r-value.