More efficient application of present day materials for light weight, high strength would be applied. Some of the materials that could be used are composites of high strength inner and outer surfaces with a foamed inner core. The exterior surfaces could be of a ceramic material, glass, or pre-stressed, lightweight concrete. All the electronics could be an integral part of the building's modular components, each one easily connected to existing clean sources of energy. Many of the buildings could be self-contained with thermal generators, heat concentrators and photovoltaic arrays built into the skin of the building, and with thermo panes to tint out the bright sunlight by variable patterns of shading. Outer surfaces will change color in different seasons to take advantage of heat loss or gain. These features would help to supply more than enough of the energy required to operate the entire building.

Buildings may also contain a precise combination of dissimilar metals utilizing the thermocouple effect for heating and cooling, and other materials embedded in solid state plastic or ceramic, structural materials. The warmer it gets on the outside, the cooler it becomes on the inside. The application of this principle can serve to heat or cool the buildings.