The owner of Vermont Natural Homes, Chad Mathrani, is building his own home near Brattleboro, Vermont. The walls of the house are built using several different construction methods, including timber frame, straw-bale, and double-stud framing insulated with cellulose.

This video of Mathrani’s project was produced by a distributor of building products, 475 High Performance Building Products in Brooklyn, New York.

Yes, this looks like an ad. But GBA is not being paid for publishing this video. The builder profiled here, Chad Mathrani, is genuinely enthusiastic about the products he mentions. We are publishing this video so that readers can learn about the techniques used by a conscientious builder committed to using natural materials. By sharing this video, GBA is neither endorsing nor discouraging the use of products sold by 475.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, we can focus on Mathrani’s methods. His use of natural materials is inspiring, and his attention to detail and focus on airtightness are admirable.

Mathrani’s house has nice, clean lines and a generous roof overhang. The west, north, and east walls are timber-framed walls with straw-bale infill, while the south wall is an 8-inch-thick double-stud wall insulated with dense-packed cellulose insulation. The wall’s air barrier is lime-stabilized clay plaster.

Windows are triple-glazed. Electrical wiring in exterior walls is located in a service chase behind the baseboard. The mechanical ventilation system consists of four Lunos fans.

In the video, Mathrani clearly explains how he maintained a continuous air barrier at several tricky transition areas.