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What if I don't want to live in a plastic box?

Because we stood in front of the same decisions this year, I can only recommend to use wood not stone as building material. And wood fiber insulation. Building techniques in that area are pretty advanced. (At least I hope so, let's talk about it in twenty years again :D )

What plastic box would that be?

All the closed cell plastic foam needed to meat passive house requirements.

A point. All the energy savings disappear the moment you open a window.

I think this has already been addressed by the sibling comment to my question. Insulation does not have to impermeable. Its purpose to prevent the loss of air carrying heat with it, not the transfer of moisture/humidity.

If it's permeable then water will condense inside it and it will develop mold and deteriorate. That is the fate of all of these passive houses.

Not necessarily. Mold grows in certain conditions: food availability, right temperature, water/moisture.

Ideally you would want your insulation outside of vapour barrier:

* https://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-001-t...

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkfAcWpOYAA&t=22m58s

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTwq-qUnr9I

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