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High thermal mass and super insulation work with any for of heat. Passive solar is nice, where available, because it is free. The data I have read on super insulated straw bale homes is that they use 1/4 to 1/3 the energy to heat. Like you say, depending on heat losing windows. That is why the expensive (R-7) insulated steel shutters are nice, plus they add security(very difficult to break in) and can be automatic (on a timer or thermal switch + or -). In Arizona I built some million dollar+ homes with them(in the 1980s). There they were used to stop thermal solar gain! Earthships there face north! Ground temp is 70*F year around (why do they build on the surface, except for quick profit? and flash floods to non-waterproof basements, so even basements there are rare)
Thermal mass it good because it mitigates and stabilizes the indoor climate, and adds insulation (but not as well as straw bales.
Plastic foam is also used for super insulation, but is a petro chemical product and not re-used/recycled like rammed earth tires or straw bales. I did use R-8 foam on the outside of my rammed earth tire walls to insulate against the 50*F ground temperature, straw bales were just too big (I could only over-dig a foot because of tree roots).
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"With every decision, think seven generations ahead of the consequences of your actions" Ute rule of life.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”― Chief Seattle
“Those Who Have the Privilege to Know Have the Duty to Act”…Albert Einstein
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