The choice of aluminium for its bioclimatic impact is among the best options for energy efficiency, as architects and builders choose solutions to help buildings perform well in the climate and conditions where they are located. Aluminium, glass, ceramics and steel are commonly used materials, but the bioclimatic principles used aren't limited to material selections. When it comes to ventilation in tropical climates, for example, it's the strategic absence of materials, or their position and perforation, that creates air flow to boost natural cooling – a technique used in Indonesia – while a building's geographic orientation can maximize the benefits of cooling breezes or increase critical access to solar energy.

There is considerable diversity in how bioclimatic principles are applied across the world, precisely because these principles are responsive to their locations. Many of today's "innovations" are a return to the intuitive practice of centuries ago, before electricity and conditioned spaces made them an afterthought. The iconic hacienda of Spanish architecture relied on thick walls and smaller south-facing windows to reduce interior heating. Curved roofs in Asian countries like China and Japan prevented snow build-up on the rooftops. In Nordic societies, sod houses of centuries ago were among the first to integrate vegetation into the structure, in much the same way that green walls and rooftop gardens function now.

In the modern era, the idea for adaptation by design was popular in South America when it was first introduced in the 1960s by Victor Olgyay, who brought a sense of morality to architectural design. With bioclimatic design, there is often a sense of style continuity as well. In Paris, that may mean that aluminium blades sweep to evoke that stage-curtain effect in a center meant for celebration of the arts, but on a different continent or culture – or even in buildings with a different purpose within the same city – the techniques for adapting to climate also contemplate who uses the building, and the context of that use.

As cities across the globe reinvent themselves to meet climate challenges in the 21^st century, bioclimatic design is seeing its renaissance in techniques and materials that support our cultural diversity by aligning the built environment with our planet – and protecting our common home as well as our smaller ones.