The article, Green building meets Indigenous knowledge in Taos, New Mexico describes new building ideas based on ancient knowledge, such as passive solar heating and adobe construction. https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/06/25/green-building-new-mexico

From the article:

“It’s a reminder that while some of our technology might be new, what we now call sustainable design is at least as old as the ancient Pueblo in Taos.”

“We’ve got 14% of Americans who have no homes… Cement accounts for 8% of planetary pollution, all by itself.” –Anita Otilia Rodriguez.  Rodríguez points to her own floor. “This has no cement under it. It’s 35 years old, it’s completely waterproof, and it has subfloor heating underneath it. And that is one of the techniques passed on by the enjarradoras,” she says. “So we have not only the material, we have the technology, and women and children and elders can use this building material.”

Re-learning traditional building methods that rely on local materials — like adobe in the Southwest — could help cut climate pollution from the construction industry. 

FUTURE:   

The Earthship Biotecture movement creates sustainable homes from recycled objects and natural materials like wood, mud, and stone. Many have green roofs and indoor gardens.

Earthship Biotecture – Off Grid Sustainable Green Buildings

PAST:

The Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest began building homes of wood, mud, and stone over a millennium ago.

One such ancient settlement, that is currently still inhabited by Pueblo people, is in Taos, New Mexico:

Also in New Mexico, ruins of 1000+ year old Pueblo dwellings in Chaco Canyon and Aztec Monument:

Chaco Canyon:

Aztec Monument:

Just one of the striking construction similarities seen in the walls of the ancients and the futurists:

Aztec Monument:

Earthship: