> But it's considered a fringe eco-hippy interest and not something most of the population needs to care about.

Here in Arizona, if we built things for cooling more like in the middle east (windcatchers/solar chimneys/qanats + thick walled rammed earth and/or monolithic domes), it would probably be more energy efficient.

But I can't imagine that style would go over well with our current (overall) political climate here...