Ballon framing filled with insulation and covered with insulating sheathing is far more energy-efficient than old walls made of brick, stone, or concrete in the winter. That's why in the freezing northeast of the USA, it's all balloon framing -- while in sunny Florida they can build with cinder blocks instead.
Europe doesn't really have winter compared to North America, unless you're making a quip about their energy crisis ;-). Compare someplace continental and ridiculously far north like Rovaniemi, Finland to, say, Fargo, ND; the latter has colder winters, despite being 20 degrees of latitude further south. And yet everyone in Fargo builds with stick frames.
A well-built and well-maintained wood house can last multiple generations and keep warm in the meantime. Though, granted it's probably more expensive to maintain than equivalent masonry.
The American interior generally does not benefit from the same moderating influence of major water bodies as Scandinavia does. The winters are quite different. That's why you can have frequent awfully cold conditions as far south as Oklahoma (and sometimes Texas) despite being as far south as Egypt or Jordan.
As others pointed out, I nitpicked the one place in Scandinavia that would actually get cold, to make the comparison fair. Places further north than Rovaniemi (my example) that are closer to the ocean, like Tromsø, have milder winters due to the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream.
This is a fairly well-known concept. From a starting place in Europe, usually one has to travel 10-15 degrees of latitude south to find similar winter temperatures in North America. See:
- Helsinki, Finland vs. Syracuse, NY: 17 degrees of latitude
- Warsaw, Poland vs. Pittsburgh, PA: 12 degrees
- Berlin, Germany vs. Roanoke, VA: 13 degrees
You have to go into Russia to find truly cold winters. Kazan, probably the coldest major city in the European side of Russia, has similar winter temperatures to Edmonton, AB, only two degrees further south.
True, also to note brick construction traditionally can be dirt cheap if you adjust for materials and processes that are readily available locally. Nowadays there’s the option to go with hollow concrete blocks which makes building way faster and cheaper as well.
