The house, which will have straw bale walls, geothermal floor heating and polished concrete floors as part of its energy efficient design, is being built so that its owners will be off the grid.

David Marshall from Madik Constructions, which is building the house, said he jumped at the job because he has a particular interest in energy efficient homes.

“The walls are built of sit-up straw bale structures, a modern twist on a straw bale. They have a timber frame with a straw bale infilled panel,” he said.

”They basically give the house an R rating [energy efficiency rating of the structure] of 7.0.”

By comparison, a normal brick veneer house would have a maximum R rating of 3.0.

This means the house is doubly effective when it comes to heating and cooling.

Mr Marshall said the house’s double glazed windows will assist with insulation and its fully polished concrete floors throughout the house will create an internal mass to help assist with the cooling of the home.

“Another point of difference is the hydronic geothermal floor heating, which is basically a trench system in the earth [directly underneath the house] which uses the temperature from the earth's core for in-floor heating,” he said.

“This reduces the amount of energy required by 80 per cent compared to normal slab heating.”

He said the architect also designed the property to take in its natural orientation or northern aspect.

Mr Marshall said when you combine all these features, the end result is a high energy performing house.

He said the building industry is changing rapidly, and designs such as this one are much more beneficial in the longer term.

“There will never be an energy bill; you offset the energy cost by paying up front,” he said.

“It is more expensive, but there’s a much better lifestyle; it’s a very green way of building.”