The new way I intend on building a cabin with modern technologies is:
Construction: Have the shell of the house constructed of fiberglass and spray foam. The shape of the house is determined by a form. The form is made out of a mound of dirt on your property that is in the shape of the house. Then you put a powder such as flower over the mound of dirt for quick release of the fiberglass structure and to keep it clean. The fiberglass and epoxy mixture is then applied over the quick release dust to create the structure. Then the structure is removed in sections to be combined into the final complete house shape and bonded together with more fiberglass.
Insulation: Spray foam the inside of the house.
Fireproofing: Put a protective coating of plaster over the spray foam to fireproof it, and for visual appeal.
Flooring: Have a fiberglass floor that is attached to the entire house as one solid seamless, house sized, piece of fiberglass. Add whatever other type of flooring you want over this.
Optional Fiberglass mold: For making a mold for the fiberglass you may elect to make a dirt mold of a part of the house then put fiberglass over the dirt mold and wait for it to cure. But then this first fiberglass shape may be dirty from remnants of the dirt mold, so you now use the newly formed fiberglass shape as a mold in and of itself that you put another layer of fiberglass over as a new clean fiberglass house component. You can also make a boat this way in much less time than it would take to make a wooden boat(wooden boats taking 200hrs)(See: "How to build a boat" youtube video). Also have many layers of the fiberglass and epoxy resin for more structural strength. Also you put quick release wax and gelcoat over molds before applying fiberglass.
Fiber glass is superior to a cement house because cement will crack almost inevitably and is therefor not waterproof and also it is very expensive and less suited to building custom structures.
Costs: Fiberglass cloth will cost 4$/1ft. x 1yard. And the epoxy resin will run about 40$/gallon.
Heating and cooling: In the new fiberglass cabin, have ceramic/ or copper/ or flexible metal pipes installed underground with one end located outside the house and one end located inside the house. See: This article on underground pipe house heat moderation. To prevent mold in the culvert air pipe just put an anti mold paint on the inside surface. The pipe acts as temperature moderation because underground temperatures are the same year round and are not affected by air temperature. But to force air to flow through the underground pipe you want air flow from somewhere. For this I like Bernoulli's principle.
Bernoulli's principle states that fast moving air has lower air pressure than slow moving air.(Although it doesn't explain the theory of flight it can help understand how chimney's work). See my "Vortex tubes and pulse jets" article on these principles for more.So for a chimney you have a separate pipe on top of the house that uses Bernoulli's principle, which is: As wind flows past the top of the pipe/chimney air will be forced up the pipe from inside the house which is ultimately replaced by the air now flowing through the underground pipe. This technology will only lower energy bills every month and will only work when wind is blowing. So make sure that the chimney is above the tree line for best wind flow.
Also you may add a heat exchanger if you want fresh air but you want the temperature in the house to be the same. But most likely this tech will need to be supplemental with a solid state cooling or heating system and a thermostat for those especially cold or hot days. So for that there are some promising new technologies such as thermo acoustic refridgeration and the Johnson thermo electrochemical converter system
which may be available in 5 years or so but until then we can use conventional technology. Heating is easier to accomplish though because you can just get an electric space heater.
Phone: (In research and development now) I am inventing a walkie talkie that requires no batteries, but therefor has limited range. You also have a separate repeater that is located on the roof of the house that is solar powered so that you can boost any signal for long distance communication. This walkie talkie has only 2 components and some wire and a box, and only costs 2$ to make.
Internet:(Untested) Have the same kind of satellite phone and internet that they use on boats
Fridge:(Untested) Thermo-acoustic
Food:Hunt and gather. Wild food is abundant in the wild because everything is still undeveloped. But still supplement diet with store bought items that are imported or hard to find foods for the area.
Drink: Distill by self, or go to store.
Dishes: Still need bowl for soup, or plate for food, and fork knife and spoon, and to clean them you still should just use soap and water. But if you really don't want to buy soap, then throw 100% metal or stone utensils in hot coals to sanitize. Don't put them in the flame of a fire because that will make them dirty by depositing a layer of soot. Coals are hotter so they don't create soot.
Cooking: All electric.
Entertainment: (Untested)OLED TV that is battery powered will be available by 2015.
Lighting: Ambient lighting during day time from a frosted sky lite in the roof, also touch sensitive on/off switch for no moving parts(See: how touch sensitive lamps work). OLED lighting.
Clothing/Washing clothes:(Untested) Clothes are made of artificial water proof fibers like acrylic. To wash them have a rag soaked in alcohol and scrub dirt away.
Shower:(Untested) Rag and warm soapy water.
Toilet:(Untested) Chlorine and CLR septic system in a bucket of water then bury. Or outside then burn the waste site.
Transportation:(Untested) Electric powered vehicle when there is a good storage technology and power grid, or sailboat that go on excursions with because you live next to the ocean in Alaska.
Less Liabilities: Live in alaska where there is less competition over resources with other people because of lower population, so there is more oportunity to succeed at things and build wealth. Also no noise or air polution. Also no crime when alone or with friends. You'll never be in a car crash but be sure to be prepaired for the cold and stock food for the winter and have the same kind of satellite phone and internet that they use on boats. For me I don't have to pay taxes or keep tax records if I don't have a job. The less mail you have to keep and paper work you have to do the better. You have less rules in alaska which is less liability, so make your own rules. Also you get to have free infinite vacations on the infinite coastlines of alaska(alaska has more shoreline than the rest of the united states combined). The boat can be sail powered with an outboard motor and gas for emergencies. and buy a rope crab pot and let it lay on the water's bottom for half the day and then pull it up for easy crab meat. And you get paid 3000$ a year to live in alaska after you've lived there for 1 year. Also instead of working 8 hours a day at walmart for 7$ an hour and never saving up money because it all goes to bills. Why not work 8 hours a day building a house and a garden and stuff for yourself. As long as you can eat and sleep comfortably. So just have a mobile home on your piece of land while you build your house/cabin/castle/boat/spaceship. But there is no more homestead act so you have to spend money to get land now.
I will add to this as I have more time, and will address all of the aspects of the cabin that make it functional and comfortable, as I think of them.
