Around here, they build a stone wall, then add a layer of insulation against it, then build a brick wall against that.
That layer of insulation had been mandatory since at least mid-80s, and requirements for thickness have increased a few times since.
It's true that they're are houses with low energy labels, but from mid-80s on houses already have a C level - and that's default, with further improvements possible by owners. Currently, minimum allowed label for new buildings is A. But we're already slowly moving to "zero-rated": solar panels supply needed energy (on average, over a year).
Having a stone wall on the inside of the insulated barrier is great for adding thermal mass to the inside. Having all that masonry inside probably helps regulate the temperature nicely. I suspect it's more expensive to do it that way than to use wood studs and batting between them. (Of course it depends on the region you're building in. Wood is cheap in North America, maybe not so much in other parts of the world?)
And because earthquakes are also plentiful in California, we don't want our walls to be too heavy. Tensile strength is more important, as well as flexibility.
That layer of insulation had been mandatory since at least mid-80s, and requirements for thickness have increased a few times since.
It's true that they're are houses with low energy labels, but from mid-80s on houses already have a C level - and that's default, with further improvements possible by owners. Currently, minimum allowed label for new buildings is A. But we're already slowly moving to "zero-rated": solar panels supply needed energy (on average, over a year).