A few years ago, I was working on an energy efficient new construction.  Using alot of products that people didn't know a lot about then...  One of them that I really love is the soy-based foam insulation. 

The product is sprayed on as a liquid, then expands up to 100 times its original size!  That's a lot of expansion!  It gets everywhere!  Even in the odd angles and tiny cracks.  It's very effective for sound reduction of outside noise.  It's great for maintaining more constant temps.  I've found the house to be incredibly quiet and the temperature really does stay more even than any of my remodel projects and for much longer! 

Perhaps the thing I love best is driving home a few days after a winter storm and seeing the houses on the north and south of mine with melted roofs.  Mine will still have a thick layer of snow where you can see roofing material showing through on theirs.  And these houses were built one and two years after mine, the angle to the sun and wind exposure is very similar!  The difference being that they didn't use the blown foam insulation.  I will not build without it again!

It goes around and behind the can lights and makes for a seal that usually is a real insulation break. 

The conservation expert from the local utility district estimates conditioned air costs for this home about 50% of average for this size during the peak months.  It's much less during the shoulder seasons as the temps remain so constant. 

The white walls are the blocks for insulated concrete forms (ICF).  A construction method that is a blog post in itself!

For more information on this home click Quietwater Creek.