Building techniques typically employ cement, a material with high embedded carbon. Rammed Earth, a traditional building material, has a far lower carbon impact. In the search for sustainable development across the developed and developing world, building techniques have an important role to play. This article considers how lobbying for a change in building regulations and how drafting a new code on building standards can move societies away from cement dependent processes to lower carbon methods. Putting standards into place is a process which takes time and patience. A standard for rammed earth structures has taken 20 years to write, put in place and widen to a larger group of countries. Building on this experience will hopefully accelerate the process towards allowing lower carbon building materials. Widening understanding of climate change means there are now more routes to funding for work on changing building standards.