Thomas Brown, an architect from Stevens Point, Wis., won the best wall design at the 1991 Quality Building Conference held in Springfield, Mass., and sponsored by the New England Sustainable Energy Association. Brown's entry for an energy-efficient strapped wall was judged by an architect, an engineer, and a builder for "energy efficiency, buildability, simplicity, and innovation." Brown's design combines conventional framing methods with several energy-conserving construction practices (see illustration). Brown claims his design "is very forgiving…and allows flexibility in the completion of the project." Most of the energy-conserving measures have been added to a standard 2x6 wall, he explains, and don't require a whole new method. "In fact," he adds, "it is possible to revert to more standard practices if budget or other constraints prevail." The
