Dubai is full of futuristic, glazed skyscrapers. That’s problematic, from a sustainability perspective, in a city where temperatures regularly climb past 100 degrees Fahrenheit for several months each year. Air-conditioning can be so strong in the summer that some people wear jackets and scarves inside.

But a growing number of architects in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which is currently hosting the United Nations climate summit, are now designing buildings in more sustainable ways, using the latest technology but also reintroducing age-old construction techniques that made buildings livable long before air-conditioning existed.

Those methods include orienting buildings away from the sun, building in accordance with wind patterns to increase natural ventilation, minimizing the use of glass, and incorporating traditional Islamic architecture to create shade, according to several architects who are based in Dubai or who have worked in the region.

“There used to be this obsession with glass skyscrapers in the last 15 years, which makes our city look like all of the other cities,” said AlZaina Lootah, an architect and researcher based in Dubai. Now, more new projects are incorporating traditional architecture. They use courtyards, terraces and narrow alleyways for shading and wind towers, pioneered by ancient Persians, to draw cool air to street level, she said.

Other methods include building with thicker walls, which absorb heat during the day and release it at night, using double facades and using more energy-efficient building materials that reflect heat.

Air-conditioning became widely available in the Emirates in the 1970s, not long after oil was discovered. The discovery of oil revolutionized life in the region and led to a construction boom within just a few decades, including the creation of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which is twice the height of the Empire State Building.