It is weather proof, superbly energy efficient, and quiet. You can heat it with your cook stove, and it cools without AC. Add some water panels on the roof for hot water, and you are ready for the challenge.
As to your original question about mfg lumber. some is good, and some is not... and sometimes you don't know which you are buying. Boards rot too! Any home requires maintenance, and that involves looking into the attic, and behind the stove!
A lot will depend on the land we wind up buying (we're only in the figuring-out-location stage now) and whether it's suitable for an earth-berm house.
The first house we built was not completely earth-bermed, but it was backed into the hill for insulation purposes (we used tar paper, rubber membrane, and Bentonite on the uphill side, plus a deep gravel trench with silt fabric and large drain pipes). It was passive solar and very efficient -- when I look at our gas and electric bills in our current conventional subdivision house, it makes me want to cry!