Cement-bonded wood-based materials (wood-cement compounds, WCCs) are used in construction since more than 100 years. Until today, they are chiefly used non-structurally where their good fire resistance, thermal and acoustic insulation and thermal mass are combined with a relatively low density. Main application forms of WCCs are prefabricated panels but pour-able mixes are also available. WCCs allow creating light-weight structural elements if applied, for example, in composite timber-WCC elements. Such multi-functional elements cannot only fulfill a structural task but provide also building-physical performances. This paper reports on test results for thermal insulation and specific heat capacity of WCCs and timber-WCC walls, also comparing them to performance features of other construction materials and code requirements. The paper also presents results from full-scale buckling tests, and evaluates the suitability of structural design approaches. This contribution is complemented by companion papers on me-chanical properties of WCCs and performance features of timber-WCC slab elements.