'The Green Steel of the 21st Century'

A building material made of hemp fibers, water, and clay or lime is a sustainable alternative to other options like concrete. Dubbed hempcrete, the product has many benefits including a very low carbon footprint, active sequestration of carbon dioxide, and using a sustainable, fast-growing crop as its base.

Hempcrete, a combination of hemp, water, and lime, can be used as a more sustainable insulation option for buildings. The material improves energy efficiency, produces less carbon than options like fiberglass and foam, and will continue to capture carbon while used as insulation.

In Lithuania, building owners looking to retrofit to improve energy use, reduce heating costs, and lower carbon emissions, can make use of a lending approach that pairs grants and loans. The grants are intended to offset the expense of the loan and can act as a first-loss guarantee for investors.

An architect in Chennai, India, is retrofitting private residences and public buildings to be more sustainable. They make changes like installing energy-efficient upgrades, solar panels, improved ventilation, and low-flow plumbing fixtures to reduce water and energy consumption.

Architects in Vietnam are creating climate-resilient buildings with nature-based designs and materials that adapt to the local weather to reduce the building’s emissions throughout its lifespan by naturally regulating the temperature.

The Dry Stone Walling School of Japan is keeping the tradition of building walls out of stones collected from the neighboring environment alive by connecting students with local craftsmen. Building walls this way is a viable alternative to concrete that supports biodiversity and produces less carbon emissions.

The East Coast Greenway is a car-free trail network under development along the East Coast of the United States. The project organizers work with cities along the planned path to build the infrastructure and find funding. The goal is to connect Calais, Maine, and Key West, Florida.

The city of Amsterdam funded a blue-green roofs program to reduce both flooding and the urban heat island effect. The water collection system stores and releases rainwater, the variety of indigenous plants increase biodiversity, and the connected digital network allows them all to be controlled remotely.

A cooperative in Switzerland is building sustainable apartments using recycled materials and green building practices to create carbon-neutral communal living spaces. These “cluster apartments” cut down on living space per person and save energy.

St. Paul, Minnesota, is retrofitting city-owned buildings, improving their efficiency, and swapping to renewable sources of heating and cooling to decarbonize their operations.