Italian firm 3Gatti used local sun parasol designs as inspiration for the new sun shading mechanisms that will be added to Shanghai’s converted Madrid Pavilion.

Design firm Roel de Boer has created a lightweight roofing tile that can be retrofitted on existing sloping shingles, making green roofs possible in difficult urban locations.

After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Japanese firm Shigeru Ban designed sustainable replacement housing using locally sourced labor and materials for a devastated Sri Lankan village.

Istanbul, Turkey, is set to begin construction of the Kagithane Gardens office project, featuring overlapping green roofs and other sustainable features.

Wisconsin firm WholeTrees features sustainable, unmilled wood in all of its residential and commercials designs, harnessing the natural strength of branching tree forms.

Brazil’s planned Antarctic research station will use solar panels for the sunny summers and wind turbines in the long winters to supply renewable energy year-round.

An undulating 1,150-foot skyscraper design in Taiwan plans to embed thousands of wind turbines in its skin to generate all of its electrical energy and provide dynamic lighting.

Pritzker Prize-winner Toyo Ito’s Odate Dome in Japan, made with sustainably harvested wooden support beams and translucent Teflon, has performed well in many monsoon storms.

Eager to showcase its renewable energy prowess, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has harnessed the wind and sun to help power its new headquarters.

Besides being aesthetically striking, the honeycombed walls and hollow spire of this concrete tower in Saudi Arabia create a natural air-conditioning system.