I think if the insurance people stepped on the plate any more than they have the game would be over & we'd be out.
My mother lives on Cape Cod, been ther in her wooden house, right on the water for nearly 50 yrs & weathered mnay hurricanes & floods, never once even after riding out a few 100yrs storms, has she had to rebuild, renovate or restore her house but she does now have to move out because this 77 yr old women can't meet the costs of manditory flood ins. So much for ins. companies. They cover their asses, assets & profits, they are not that interested in covering the properties nor are they interested in in the practice of building any more than a bank wants to become a realitor.

The ones who are interested in how building are erected are the town & city building departments. When an owner whats a building it they that deciede what they want. They have the say above all others what they want, they say this is what & this is what I'll spend. If they can only go this far in the process then they hire an engineer, architect, designer, builder or contractor. For there the owner the rest figure out wat suits the owners needs & the means & methods it'll take to give the owner a product that suits the wants, needs & disires of the owner. From there the plans, ideas & drawings are overlooked by the building department to check if all is doable by codes & building standards & practices, before a construction permit
is issued along with plumbing, electrical, sewer & others permits. All is checked & ok'd before the start of the project. As the project continues the inspector have to visit the site before signing off during certain phases of construction. Depending on where the project is being built & the enviorment the building departments may have other local standards that need to be met. An example, San Francisco won't allow any wood shakes for roofing unless they been fire treaated or fire retardant, Mexico City is very careful about basements & cellars that need to be stable ontop of high water tables, Florida wants hurricane practices followed. So the building departments & inspectors are responsible for what goes up & how it gose up & sometime what is used. They see to it that all general standards & practices are adhered to & met up until signing & issuing an occupancy permit. This goes for commercial as well as residential through out the US. In the cases where someone wants a structure that's far from the usuall it's up to the owner/builder/architect/etc to convince the building departments of it usefullness & worthyness, they may or may not sign of on it. Some won't go for anything, some are more openminded than others as well as some may just be idiots & then there are that would love to see the results.
Some short cuts are taken sometimes but as someone who's been in the construction trades better than 35 yrs, it doesn't happen often without the knowledge of someone who signs off on it. There are some inspectors & departments that are lacking too as well as builders, designers etc. but not that many. In my lifetime I've seen far more that practice good building techniques than shoddy. And generally you only see shoddy workmanship & practice when the owner is trying to short change the builder into taking short cuts, that's where the building inspectors, town clerks & others come in to make sure all is "above board".
So, what it comes down to is personal judgment. I want this & have this much to spend, my concerns are such & such. Here's when "green building" & "environmentally friendly", structurally longevity, aesthetics & style come into play. The government & the building codes only regulate up to so much, and a good portion of that concerns safety, they do not enforce the ways & means or the hows' & whys', that is up to the owner & builder or who ever else is involved in the project unless it's a goverment project & government funds are involved. Yes, some one can use cheap concrete or do some otherwise shaddy practice or use some substandard material but they better hope that fails after they're dead because there is generally a trail to follow.
Mg this seems to be flowing a bit like the poverty thread where you'd love to regulate practices, for the better of those that don't know better & all the while doing it for their own good.
Anyway, I hope this has added a bit of light to the discussion.

Barry