My mechanical engineer brother-in-law sent me a presentation and a link about a house that one of his old professors from the University of Illinois is doing. 

There is also an excellent blog that follows the construction and also provides more technical information about the house.

Unfortunately, the presentation is too big to attach, but I may pull out selected pages and put them in subsequent posts.

Highlites of the house include:

ICF foundation walls
12" SIPS construction
Passive solar
Super sealed
Custom HVAC system
Extensive monitoring and control system
LED lighting
Wireless switches
8.2kW PV system
Rainwater harvesting


I am VERY impressed!

Bruce

this is very cool and interesting to read.  I have looked through all of the images too.  I especially like the one where he shows the exterior temp (around 16 out) and the interior is 64 just from the solar gains. Very impressive.
I have been working on a passive solar design very similar to this house infact (in shape).  I too have been looking at SIPs, but the urethane ones.  However a double stud wall system will most likely be what I will use.

It does look very hi-tech and hi-performance. I would be interested to see a construction cost estimate as well as an estimated operating expense estimate. Love this type of discussion. Thanks for posting.

bascially agree - an excellent design

for WIND and TORNADO debris resistance we of course recommend ICF walls.