It was a bold statement, but I said it; EIFS is the true continuous insulation, the system verifying the definition. But let me say this, it is not the only continuous insulation. For many years stucco has been applied over various forms of foams, most commonly EPS and XPS. A continuous insulation stucco assembly can be achieved with and runs a close second to the EIFS.
Stucco over foam isn’t new, and in fact, I have heard recounts of stucco application, done back in the 1950s, where stucco was applied directly over foam, with no lath, on large insulated cool rooms. From my own application recounts of applying stucco over foam, I can testify that stucco sticks readily to foam, more to EPS than XPS, but none the less, sticks. The reason I mention this is that there is a mental picture painted of stucco over foam being cantilevered from the wall assembly thus posing danger of falling off. This may cause pause when considering a CI assembly involving stucco. To address this we need to look at some assemblies.