But the authors are persuasive that some things can be done just as well with less fuel or material: drip irrigation, for example, superwindows, innovative cooling and ventilation systems, integrated fish management, and economic incentives that reward efficiency rather than waste.

ECONOMIST: Green plus red-tape makes brown

Current HVAC systems get rid of stale, germ-ridden indoor air by cooling or heating fresh outdoor air and blowing it through ventilation ducts, a process that gobbles electricity.

FORBES: Companies & Strategies

Yeang's designs use walls of plants, scallop-shaped sunshades, solar panels, advanced ventilation and the structure and of the building itself to collect water and catch cooling air currents.

CNN: Green walls: the growing success of 'vegitecture'

Instead of ventilation grates that allow rainwater to pour in, the new stations will be aired using enclosed cooling plants.

NPR: New York Expanding Nation's Biggest Transit Hub