Alternative Foundations

[tigrr]

We were visiting a young couple last night who are building their own home.  They used a steel reinforced styrofoam panel as their basement wall.  The piece of panel that I saw looked like it had a metal stud imbedded in the styrofoam.  The only concrete used was in the footings (and the floor).
Has anyone heard of this type of foundation wall system, or had experience with it?

[MushCreek]

What is on the outside to protect it from the elements? The inside sounds like Superior Wall, which is a pre-cast concrete system with foam and steel studs on the inside.

[tigrr]

Don't know too much about it.  From what I could see from the cut off section, it was a solid piece of styrofoam panel, probably 8" thick, with what appeared to be a 6" metal stud imbedded in the panel.  I assume these studs are spaced 16"oc.  The outside of the foundation was covered with a waterproof membrane.   Should of asked more questions, but they were in a hurry to check out a moose/calf pair they saw walking through their property.