We finished standing up the timbr frame for the "green" house that we're building in Muncie, Indiana. We still have a long way to go before we can move in, but this is a big milestone that encourages me to keep going strong.
After we finish the roof and framing out the windows and doors, we'll stack straw bales (not hay!) for the exterior walls and plaster them with a natural clay/sand/straw plaster. The slab will be heated with hot water and is colored dark red to be the finished floor. The house sits on 4.3 acres, and is surrounded by a large organic garden, small deciduous and coniferous woods, and a mixed orchard. We're building without a mortgage (by choice), so it will take another year or two before we finish, but in the end it should be very sustainable.