we have seen it all been done. Some consideration needs to be done with interior vapor barriers when using continuous exterior foam. Uninsulated stud bays are never recommended up here in the cold climate due to stack effect. I do not know the payback periods but I think in terms of most performance it has been:
Full height ICF (very good sound performance)
SIPS (thickness can be specified and have good continuity if properly installed - Alaska has freight issues to deal with)
Exterior foam board Insulation (thickness can be easily increased)
Interior insulation (thickness has to be taken into account for electrical)
Insulated sidings (not usually a high R value)
2x6 studs with R21 or R19 or blown in fiberglass or blown in cellulose or sprayed in foam
2x4 studs with R11 or R13 or blown in fiberglass or fblown in cellulose or sprayed in foam
We also have one builder who has gone through the process of coming up with sandwiched logs that have gotten high performance. He has the operation set up in a factory based environment where he can control costs quite well.
We have several that have built out of a insulated Masonry called Penstar.
http://www.davisblock.com/download/pdfs/Pentstar Brochures.pdf
We also have lots of log homes so stating the insulation levels is tricky business in my opinion.
Of the above we have had very few go with ICF above grade repeatedly due to it is very expensive. I have only had a couple of SIPS projects come through here and the last one I inspected was at least ten years ago - the other night I talked to a builder who just built his first one and I think he spent extra time just getting through the learning curve. The penstar is very durable and is costly but we did have two residential projects of it in the last couple of years.
I firmly stand with the philosophy that the amount of insulation should be at the choice of the homeowner.