Passive Annual Heat Storage & Zero-Energy-HVAC

my opinion: because it's not good for the economy. A whole lot of people would be out of a job and out of business if this were common knowledge. Heating and Air Conditioning would become obsolete and a whole lot less power would be necessary. Less solar panels would be sold. etc.. Currently the green movement is still a commercial thing (operating in a "capitialist" world where waste is an important part of the economy). These types of buildings are more harmonious with the planet and a lot less commercial with a whole lot less waste!

Enlightened cavemen notwithstanding, there are multiple legitimate reasons to question or avoid underground living - even with the potential for zero energy living.

I can achieve nearly the same result with an above-ground super-insulated, super-tight building with no windows - it can be heated by human and utility heat in winter and passively ventilated with a solar chimney in summer. But no one wants to live in a windowless box, and few choose to live in a light-deprived and view-restricted cave.

Additionally, PAHS requires enormous volumes of concrete (very high embodied energy and environmental life-cycle costs, including massive global warming contribution), large volumes of petrochemical foam insulation and synthetic waterproofing membranes, and must be perfectly engineered since altering the heat storage system is cost-prohibitive.

For those interested in the advantages of the PAHS approach with few of the drawbacks, Annualized Geo-Solar allows similar storage with above-ground houses built with natural materials.
http://www.greenershelter.org/index.php?pg=2

Agreed! Getting options is the point. Each according to a budget within reach or at least try for the piecemeal approach. Had to find a cheaper web host, moved the pages here--

http://harmoniouspalette.com/CostFreeHVAC/RealyInsulatedLot/SelfSufficie...

Depends on region or it can also depend on how many years of a life a person commits to sweat equity in general.

These options for living above ground-
http://harmoniouspalette.com/CostFreeHVAC/WholeLotInsulation.html
http://harmoniouspalette.com/PAHS-retrofit.html

http://harmoniouspalette.com/45degTiltUp.html

Composite insulation design-
http://harmoniouspalette.com/BuildGreen.html

http://harmoniouspalette.com/PAHSgreenhouse.html#chimney

Idealizing hobbit holes - Basic underground ideas-
http://harmoniouspalette.com/u-tube.html

Donut vault geometry for extra structural efficiency-
http://harmoniouspalette.com/SqDonutVaults.html

Tried the solar attic style first, flower beds prevented retrofit-
http://harmoniouspalette.com/TranslucentDome.html

Ferrocement and concrete can work in unexpected ways, given ample-know-how. Looking ahead of that curve of life would help, but i slipped a little, off the self-sufficient-ish edge. Back on now, as jobs might be harder and harder to find.