The famous "./configure; make" - my custom version

chown your build tree to the unprivileged user, build as normal, `make 
install' as root or (if you're paranoid) use `fakeroot' or some similar 
package to install and then deal with the resulting miniature root tree 
using GNU stow or something similar.

(Rarely (very rarely) one encounters packages that write stuff to the 
build tree during the `make install' process, so you might need to be root 
to *remove* it if you chose to do the final installation as root.)