Adobe houses are made of a distinct form of house building material called adobe. Commonly used in Native Southwest America, adobe was conventionally made by mixing straw and mud transformed into bricks. But with modern era, these came to be made of clay and sand. Adobe homes are best suited for desert areas as they are great in keeping the heat off. Being good insulators, like straw and bale houses, these houses are great to stay cool.

Some of the designs that feature on the adobe houses are listed below:
• Presence of ‘banco’ or low-lying earthen bench that is constructed into the wall inside the homes is a common sight.
• Construction of roof drains or canales that channels rain water from the rooftop to the garden area is a common.

Besides, it also has another feature called a ‘ramada’ that is a shade made from branches and wooden frame.

McMansion is a name given to large ‘Neoeclectic’ homes that are basically designed and built without the supervision of an architect. It is a highly offensive term for such showy mansions built in the 1980s in American suburbs. It derives its name from fast food joints like McDonalds that is renowned for mass production of huge quantities of fast food, just like these houses manufactured without any plan, taste and supervision.

These houses or McMansions were basically structured with gabled roofs and had colossal sizes. The windows, doors and even porches were extremely ill proportioned that marred the beauty of the home. Artificial stone and vinyl were used in plenty along with sidings with various materials that would look absurd. Basically, these houses were straight replicas from builder’s catalogs only mixing and matching various details. In modern context McMansions are not stylish and a waste of space in every sense of the term.

Straw bale house is a great option if you are tied with limited budget. Not just money, it is also suitable for the environment as it uses all recycled straw rather than disposing it. This form of construction is popular since a long time and the building products comprise of waste stalks from rye, wheat and other crops along side straw. The house that is built is very strong and resistant to fire and earthquake. Strong because straw is packed together into bales and fire resistant coz it is wrapped with stucco.

Straw bale houses are of two types namely load bearing and infill. Usually by stacking straw bales together walls are formed, which is then cemented or plastered both internally and externally. With a straw bale construction you may be sure to get a soundproof home from the noise outside. Building your low budget dream home is great when family members join in.

Structured Insulated Panel System or SIPS is one of the most durable and energy efficient construction methods available for house building. Your dream home can be a reality with SIPS on which you even get a lifetime warranty from selective SIPS manufacturers. It is very cost effective and would save you half the cost of a ‘standard code stick-built lumber house’. Not just that, you are even provided with sound proof walls and superb insulated indoor space that is free from allergens, dust, humidity etc.

In this construction method, you don’t require to frame walls, stuff insulation in them or cover the interior and exterior surfaces. You can very well distinguish a house made with SIPS from any other. The whole job is very well executed using a thick single and strong panel. It is very strong and that infact enables architectural plasticity. With SIPS panels, your construction becomes easier in any weather conditions.

You may soundproof walls in various ways. Although it is more effectively done on an existing wall, you may even soundproof new wall construction. It is highly effective on existing walls because it has an extra layer of dry wall that provides mass and an extra acoustical blockade to minimize the low frequency sound. You can soundproof the outdoor walls by insulating well with fiberglass or cellulose. This will also save energy.

In case of internal walls, often they are not insulated. For this matter there is high need of soundproofing. Adding an extra layer of drywall to the existing wall will seal gaps and air ways that let sound waves to pass through, making it sound proof. But make sure, you are using some cushioning sheet to stick the drywall and not nails, as this will again create a passage for sound to travel. Soundproofing is important to maintain privacy when you really need it.