New construction with sand-lime brick + ETICS - Criticism?!

the energetic utilization

Is not the worst. Especially since otherwise we also diligently burn all sorts of things (gas, oil, coal, waste, ...).

That has always been possible... the myth of hazardous waste is a figment of the opponents' imagination...

When we were dealing with house construction back in 2012 / 2013 and companies were showcasing their products to us, I also googled regarding ETICS (styrofoam) and hazardous waste.
At that time, the first or second hit was a statement from the Federal Environment Agency classifying this insulation material as hazardous waste. That settled the last doubt - we did not want to build with ETICS.

About 2 months ago, I searched again for the article because I wanted to send it to a member here via PM. I simply could no longer find it on the internet.

Whether it was removed because of new findings that invalidate the classification as hazardous waste or new recycling methods, I don’t know.
Maybe such a statement from the government also didn’t fit into the energy saving concept desired by the state as well as the insulation material recommended by it as a panacea.

However, I am amazed that a top Google result has completely disappeared.

But - what’s the use. We built, moved in 1.5 years ago, and that’s that for us.

There are also ETICS made of cork or wood fiber... as said

The much more interesting fact is that Styrofoam is banned as insulation in the EU, but there is a special regulation in Germany so that the industry can make nice money.

What are the alternatives or which materials are used for this purpose outside of Germany?

We also get ETICS, but not in the form of EPS, as this has too high stiffness, which negatively affects the sound insulation performance of the overall exterior wall construction (we have special requirements/conditions there).

Rock wool, on the other hand, has a positive effect - this is what we are currently planning. Additional material costs for the whole house compared to EPS are 800 EUR and thus manageable.

And then simply base plaster, fine plaster, and paint are applied on the stone wool. Done, or what?