Live in a more sustainable way, in connection with nature, minimizing its impact on the environment as much as possible. This is the challenge taken up by more and more people who are determined to build a greener future. All over the world, models of exemplary habitats accessible to the greatest number have emerged. To the west of Scotland, in the Sea of ​​the Hebrides, the Isle of Eigg today serves as a model to follow for a totally autonomous and clean life. An independence that the island also owes to its inhabitants who, at the end of the 90s, were able to unite around a common project to buy their land from a private owner and take an ecological turn. In Canada, we meet Benoît Lavigueur, a committed builder and expert in green building. Not content with having built a house of impeccable standards, he also helps all those, like him, who care about building more sustainably. Proof that eco-construction is not just reserved for an elite.

Building more sustainably on the ruins of an industrial past that was once vital but has become devastating over time. Here is the challenge that more and more cities around the world are taking up to imagine today bold and resolutely greener construction models. In the north of France, in the mining area, the town of Loos-en-Gohelle has turned into a sustainable open-air laboratory and now dreams of being a champion of ecological transition. But let’s start our journey with Italy and Piedmont, with an astonishing 5-storey residential building where architecture and nature intertwine in an unprecedented way. Singular and avant-garde, the 25 verde stands like a veritable vertical forest in the heart of the city. Right where, historically, stood an old car factory.

In the heart of cities, lost in the depths of the woods or isolated on a paradise island, ecological habitat is constantly being reinvented all over the planet. When it comes to construction, many builders are combining creativity and innovation to face the environmental challenges of tomorrow. In northern Germany, the city of Hamburg and its district of Wilhelmsburg truly act as open-air laboratories. On a 30 hectare site, 17 buildings with varied and innovative ecological profiles have emerged… thus transforming architectural utopias into modern and realistic dwellings. But first let’s go to the east coast of Africa, to Tanzania on the island of Chole (to be pronounced cholé). Only accessible by boat, this little piece of land without road, electricity or even drinking water hides a totally disconnected and ecologically exemplary eco-lodge. Perfectly integrated into the surrounding nature, it was built from local materials while especting traditional construction techniques.

Build and design in a more sustainable way for future generations? An ecological bias defended by many builders around the world. Determined to draw inspiration from nature to imagine architectures with irreproachable ecological standards, these pioneers are also keen to pass on their commitment to as many people as possible. In the heart of the French countryside, in the Corrèze department, a wooden house inspired by yurts, these round habitats of nomadic peoples, was created to face the spatial and environmental constraints that surround it. But to start our journey, let’s travel to the Indonesian island of Bali where the Green School has been named the greenest school in the world. Planted in the middle of rice fields, the place stands out as a virtuous model both for its eco-construction respectful of nature and its alternative education system ever closer to the environment.

Living in a more sustainable way for your daily life or staying in a more ecological way for a greener tourism... this is the goal that more and more families are setting themselves all over the world. Committed to a responsible approach, these pioneers, whether they are architects, builders or simple users, have the desire, by preserving the environment, to reduce their impact on our planet as much as possible. Aware that the future of humanity will inevitably pass through gentler lifestyles in harmony with the nature that surrounds us. In Canada, a few kilometers from Vancouver, the Univercity project initiated in the early 2000s aims to create a city with impeccable ecological standards. But let’s start our journey in the southwest of the African continent, in Namibia, in the heart of Africa’s largest private reserve called Namib-rand. An immaculate natural space which combines conservation of the territory, protection of wild fauna and support for local populations.

Live better together while respecting the world around us. This is the dream of many builders anxious to build alternative models closer to nature. Sustainable places, often collective, at the crossroads between safeguarding ancestral know-how, innovations and respect for the environment. In Switzerland, the Codha was created in the mid-1990s. This Geneva- based housing cooperative aims to develop more and more self-managed ecological association buildings. Economically more accessible housing that fits more broadly into exemplary eco-districts. But let’s start first in Morocco near Agadir with the Atlas Kasbah. A multifaceted ecolodge that integrates sustainable development, environmental protection and enhancement of indigenous culture. In conjunction with local communities, the place has set strong ecological objectives between preservation of natural resources and environmental awareness to design a greener future.

Disconnected and totally autonomous… this is the challenge of some constructions. Using local, bio-sourced or sometimes high-performance materials; Integrating ancestral techniques or innovative tools, these buildings can be considered in all forms for those determined to embrace a new, more ecological way of life. In Alsace, in eastern France, Eric Wasser cabinetmaker and owner of the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France traded his wood chisel for the carpenter’s hammer. After several years of research, geometric drawings and calculations, he built the Heliodome, a carved diamond placed in nature and a unique ecological house. Completely passive, this work, a mixture of wood and glass, is inspired, for its architecture, by the course of the sun. But let’s start our journey in the Middle East and more precisely in Jordan. A desert country of pristine nature, the kingdom also enjoys a particularly rich history and culture.