Don’t Be Afraid to Rethink the Standard: MASS Design Group designed Rwanda’s Butaro Hospital in 2011. At the time, it upended the idea of what a hospital can and should be. The designers eliminated interior corridors, opting to put the hospital’s main pathway outside, and made sure every bed faces a window. The studio also took an unusual approach to constructing the building, employing nearly 4,000 locals, who were involved with everything from excavation to masonry.

Reinvention Is Possible: Before Emscher Park was a park, it was the center of Germany's steel industry. Beginning in 1989, the German government began revamping the area, turning it into a 772-square- mile green space.

Look to Nature: Ecovative, the company making mushroom board into everything from packaging to architecture, draws on the wonders of mycelium, a rapidly growing mushroom spore found in nature. When combined with vegetative waste product, the material can be molded into shapes that are resilient but completely biodegradable. Companies like Ecovative are encouraging a reconnection with earth and biology but not at the risk of technological stagnation.

Hand Down Knowledge: New Mexico’s acequias, gravity-flow irrigation ditches, were built more than 400 years ago as a way to distribute water to the arid landscape. They are controlled by people in the community, whose knowledge of waterways has been passed down from generation to generation. Today, acequias are still in use in New Mexico and are proof of how imparting responsibility to the community can lead to a sustainable solution.

Know Your Community:

When Diébédo Francis Kéré returned to Gando after studying architecture in Germany, he was commissioned to design an elementary school in his hometown. To the surprise of his community, Kéré decided to use clay bricks as the main building material in lieu of a more technologically advanced method. “They must have thought, are you crazy?” Green says. “But he was wise because he knew local artisans knew how to use this material.” Kéré’s decision to use clay bricks not only provided local workers with jobs but the community will now be able to better care for the school in the long term.

Future-Proof Your Designs: Jože Plečnik’s riverwalk in Ljubljana, Slovenia, is a fantastic early example of adaptable architecture. The strolling path that runs along and across the Ljubljanica River was built in 1932 and was designed with future-proofing in mind. The series of three bridges lead to pathways of varying elevation. When the water level is high, pedestrians can only access the higher-level walkway; when it’s low, they can take the bridge down to a lower-level path that helps double as a fortification against rising waters.

Sustainable Design Is Local Design: Angkor Wat is one of the earliest and most impressive examples of sustainable architecture. During Siem Reap's heyday, the two reservoirs regulated water, so that the temple could be used in the dry season. The pools also helped to distribute cool air throughout the temple.