Here is a wealth of information from Washington State Univ. on the energy codes and efficient construction techniques.
Of most interest will be the Builder's Field Guide and the various topics it covers.
For most any climate where heating costs are larger than cooling, most of these construction techniques will be worth the trouble.
http://www.energy.wsu.edu/code/code_support.cfm
An example of advanced framing from chapter 3:
(http://tinypic.com/2i57yr)