Post-earthquake reconstruction is based on the buidt back better principle. However, in a context of triple pressure – the imposition of new anti-seismic standards, the injunction to rebuild quickly, and the deployment of opportunistic operators – the new architecture favours standardised exogenous materials (steel and concrete) despite their unsuitability for mountain climatic conditions. Reacting to post-disaster emergencies therefore increases people’s vulnerability to gloabal warming. We will be presenting some pilot experiments carried out since January 2024, which provide an opportunity to outline alternative strategies. The first concerns the issue of repairing historic buildings and reinforcing them using historic techniques to improve their resistance to earthquakes. The second is the construction of new buildings combining contemporary uses and local historic techniques. What these two strategies have in common is that they are based on the availability of local materials (earth, stone, wood) and the reactivation of historic know-how in a paleinnovation process. Exogenous materials are used to achieve certain regulatory construction performances. They enable buildings to have a very low carbon footprint and a very low environmental impact throughout their life cycle (construction, maintenance, operation, but also when they are destroyed). They also pose a societal choice between capital-intensive and labour-intensive construction approaches. Indeed, it seems necessary to consider how to maintain a skilled, respected and well-paid local workforce if we are to maintain constructive autonomy in mountain areas.