Friends:

2020 has been a year like few others. The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the world, causing hardship for so many people; the Movement for Black Lives brought social equity to the fore, in response to current and historic injustices; and wildfires, cyclones and hurricanes made climate change visceral and real. 

It is clear, now more than ever we need a compelling, hopeful vision of the future to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the natural world, and with itself. Through all of the challenges above, people around the world continued to choose hope. As one result of this, the International Living Future Institute is finishing the year stronger than we started, with a lot of progress to report. 

In the update that follows, I outline where we’ve been, what we accomplished this year, and where we’re headed in 2021. Since we did not produce an Annual Report in 2019, I have included highlights from that year as well. Collectively, I hope you agree that there is plenty of cause for optimism on the path ahead. 

2019: A Year of Expanded Programming

At the center of our 2019 highlights was the overhaul of our flagship program – the Living Building Challenge 4.0. Widely considered the world’s most ambitious, advanced, and holistic performance standard for buildings, LBC 4.0 offers a beacon of hope to project teams around the world, showing what good looks like. 

At the same time, the Institute released the Core Green Building Certification, which was designed to meet a unique need in the marketplace. Focused on simplicity, the framework outlines 10 best practice achievements a building must obtain to be considered green or sustainable. The goal of the program is to rapidly close the gap between the highest levels of other established green building programs and the aspirations of the Living Building Challenge. 

To support organizations certifying multiple projects, the Institute launched the Volume Pilot Initiative, which is designed to promote efficiency by evaluating buildings and materials at a portfolio scale. 

Combined, these three programs provided a foundation for the Institute’s growth and future success. Not by coincidence, the Living Future ‘19 annual conference was the organization’s biggest and most successful event to date.

2019 also brought a major revision to the Affordable Housing Framework, with new case studies, resources, compliance pathways, and strategies. This initiative foreshadowed significant new projects that are affordable and target Living Building certification in the months ahead. 

2020: A Year of Progress and Transition

Building on the momentum of the previous year, 2020 brought many firsts to the Institute: 

• Climate Pledge Arena became the first professional sports arena to commit to our Zero Carbon certification, eschewing all fossil fuels (another first for a sports arena);
• The first BLOCK Project tiny home started its performance period, in pursuit of Living Building certification as part of the Volume Pilot Initiative;
• The Silver Oak Winery in Sonoma County became the first production facility to earn Living Building certification;
• Othello Square, Seattle’s first community-driven equitable development project, incorporated Red-List-Free and Forest Stewardship Council certified materials, informing the Institute’s Materials List for Affordable Housing and supporting social justice goals related to occupant health;
• McDonald’s completed its flagship restaurant at Disney World in Florida, the first of its kind to pursue Zero Energy certification;
• Google’s 6 Pancras Square in London became the first building to earn Zero Carbon certification; and 
• The cooperatively owned PCC Community Markets became the first grocery store chain to earn Petal certification, for materials, place, and beauty petals in one of their Seattle-area stores. 

This was just the tip of the iceberg.

More than two dozen projects joined the Affordable Housing Program, which offers a network of peer support and technical assistance to ensure that healthy green buildings are not limited solely to those with the privilege to determine their own living space. HopeWorks Station, which offers 76 affordable residential units, started its certification process, one of the nation’s largest affordable housing organizations registered four new projects, and the Gila River Indian Community Sustainable Housing project is pursuing Energy Petal certification for a project that is intended to be a prototype for all future housing in the community near Phoenix. 

Around the world, projects are now registered on six of seven continents (we’re coming for you, Antarctica!). Burwood Brickworks in Australia, Camp Glenorchy Eco Retreat in New Zealand, and the School of Design and Environment 4 in Singapore are just a few of the recently completed projects pursuing certification. Collectively, they show the momentum we’re all feeling at the Institute. In addition, we are negotiating partnerships in Africa, India and Mexico, renewing our partnership in the United Arab Emirates, and have collaborations in South America, China and four major regions of Europe.

Organizationally, the International Living Future Institute is ending 2020 in a solid financial position, which is an accomplishment and tribute to our fantastic staff team, who have been working under the leadership of our interim CEO, K C Gauldine. Leadership transitions need to be handled carefully even in the best times, and K C has done a masterful job guiding us through a challenging period. From her rigorous organizational assessment, to the new business structures and processes she’s implemented, she has centered the organization around the needs of the community and placed us in a strong position for growth.

Like so many others, I was shaken by the senseless killing of George Floyd. While social justice has been a part of the Institute’s mission since inception, we redoubled our efforts in the wake of this summer’s protests. The Institute engaged a nationally recognized consultancy to continue guiding our organization through an evaluation and training focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. Building on this work, we signed onto the NOMA NW 2020 Call-to-Action, to help “lay the foundation for the reconstruction of a truly unified and anti-racist architectural, engineering, construction, and design community.” In addition, we are focused on evaluating our products and programs through the diversity, equity and inclusion lense. The Institute’s Board of Directors continues to actively recruit leaders of color as one of its tangible imperatives. There is much work to do on this and other fronts, but we are making important progress. 

2021: A Year of New Leadership

On the cusp of the new year, I am pleased to announce the Board of Directors has convened a search committee to select our new CEO. We have engaged Koya Partners to support our efforts, and expect to be soliciting input from the community early next year as part of this global search. As Chair, I want to offer my sincere thanks to Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Paolo Bevilacqua, Tom Bland, Beth Heider, Jason McLennan, and Margaret Montgomery for leaning into this critical body of work. We are hopeful that the Institute will have a new leader named in the second quarter of next year. 

More broadly, I want to convey the gratitude, energy, and optimism of the Board of Directors. Through this year, we have been continually impressed by the resilience, innovation and impact of this organization.  In recognition of the Board’s pride and excitement for ILFI’s accomplishments, all Board members have given their largest annual gifts ever.  All of this is a tribute to the staff and the many partners, supporters and advocates working to build a Living Future. 

We are incredibly grateful for the success to date, and excited about the year ahead. As the Institute gears up for our annual conference, Living Future ‘21, which will be virtual again, we are struck by the fact that 2020 has made us a better organization in many tangible ways. 

With deep appreciation for our staff team – which is by far the most important part of our organization – we are poised for significant growth and impact in the year ahead. There has never been a moment in history when there has been as much support globally for climate action. This fact reinforces our passion, energy and commitment for continued progress in 2021. 

In close, I want to thank all of you. To our funders, sponsors, partners and project teams, thank you. Your investment and your commitment to a Living Future positions us for a banner year in 2021. Our progress depends entirely on your faith in our abilities and your generosity of spirit and resource. From the bottom of my heart, on behalf of the entire organization, thank you. 

To all of you and your families, I wish you a healthy and prosperous 2021. 

Happy holidays,

Anthony Guerrero

Chair, Board of Directors

Editor’s note: ILFI board chair Anthony Guerrero shares his thoughts on this moment in time, the commitments coming out of Climate Week NYC this fall,, and the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest, and climate disasters. If you want to take action and move beyond commitments, vote, consider becoming a Living Future member, or starting your Living Future Accreditation (LFA) journey.

It is easy to fall into despair these days. Between the COVID-19 pandemic, political and social unrest around the world, and the growing impacts of climate change manifesting in more intense hurricanes and wildfires, it is understandable that people may be losing hope. In fact, nearly half of all Californians reported clinical depression in a recent survey.

Despite all of these very real challenges, or perhaps because of them, momentum is growing for meaningful action on climate change. As the shortcomings of societies built on inequity and fossil fuels become increasingly obvious, leaders are stepping up in ways that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago. 

Consider these examples from just the last few weeks: China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, committed to have its emissions peak by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Google announced it had eliminated its entire carbon legacy. RE100, which represents 260 of the world’s most influential companies with combined revenue of $6.6 trillion such as Apple, Barclays, BMW, Danone, and Facebook, committed to using 100% renewable power in 140 markets worldwide. The state of California, the fifth largest economy in the world, ahead of Germany and India, announced it would phase out sales of gas-powered automobiles by 2035.

As stunning as the examples above are, what’s even more notable is that they represent just a small part of the overall picture. In too many ways to comment on here, the largest public and private organizations in the world are making bold new commitments. 

It is important to recognize and celebrate these new commitments, even as it is equally critical to acknowledge that they are entirely insufficient to address climate change. Pope Francis recognized this reality recently when he described the international community “as having proved itself largely incapable of honouring promises made in 2015, as part of the Paris Climate Agreement. The burden of fighting climate change, he said, must not fall on the next generation.”

Last week, as the skies all across the western United States glowed red from some of the worst wildfires in our nation’s history, health authorities advised people to remain indoors as the air quality was too harmful for any outdoor activity. Is this a Living Future? 

Now more than ever, we need a compelling, hopeful vision of the future to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The International Living Future Institute offers just such a vision, and as importantly, a suite of programs that help people take meaningful action. Living Buildings, Zero Carbon and Zero Energy buildings, Declare, Just – these are meaningful frameworks to create a Living Future. 

So while we need to redouble our efforts, we must also celebrate our successes. The path ahead will be long and full of adversity. We all have a role to play, not only in delivering awe-inspiring projects but also in taking care of one another and being kind to each other. As Jason McLennan recognized, love drives everything we do. Love for people and love for places. Love for our vocations and our avocations. In these dark times, we have to consciously remind ourselves of this love by embracing reasons to celebrate where we find them. The regeneration we seek is not simply ecological, it is also an effort to renew the human spirit. And this task can only be accomplished together. 

This message was sent by ILFI Board Chair Anthony Guerrero to the ILFI community over email on June 8, 2020. If you’d like to receive updates like this, sign up for our monthly newsletter, Inbox Inspiration. To learn more about Anthony, read his March 2020 Q&A here.

To our entire ILFI community,

ILFI stands in solidarity with the Black community at this time. We stand together in grief. And we stand together against the innumerable injustices, unspeakable violence, and centuries of oppression, racism, and white supremacy, most of it perpetrated by our fellow citizens, many of whom were sworn to protect our lives. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery’s names are sadly just some of the most recent on a long list of lives cut too short.

This must stop now. Black Lives Matter.

Each of us needs to listen and lend our support. Look to the resources at the bottom of this message to guide your action. Beyond the broader movement, we also have an obligation to take action within our own organization and industry.

ILFI was founded on the vision of a Living Future that is inclusive, not exclusive. We have the most ambitious, rigorous, forward-thinking programs in the world for green buildings, healthy materials, transparent organizations, and more. We lead fearlessly, and we preach loudly. But we are not reaching everyone; our industry is still perpetuating racism.

While social justice is at the core of our mission, ILFI has immense work ahead of us. Expanding on the Equity Petal, ILFI launched the Just program in 2012 to promote socially just and equitable organizations. But we need to do more to address the structural inequity that is so pervasive in our society. ILFI needs to review every program, every piece of educational material, and every event we host. We need to evaluate the barriers that have kept the number of licensed Black architects in America to less than 2% of the total (AIA). And we, too, need to provide access to and lend our voice to leaders and experts from Black communities, the Indigenous, and People of Color communities–so that ideas are made stronger, more sustainable, and pursue a true Living Future.

Here are some of the concrete steps we have committed to take:

Within our organization

• Broaden ILFI’s board, executive management and staff, and global network of Ambassadors and Collaboratives to better represent the world we live in.
• Continue to examine our full suite of programs and initiatives to eliminate buried biases and add missing content that is critical to advancing equity in the built environment.
• Ensure that our equity- and justice-specific work, such as the Equity Petal and Just program, fully incorporates anti-racism principles.

Within our industry

• Continue to support existing green building anti-racism coalitions, such as the NAACP’s Centering Equity in the Sustainable Building Sector initiative, which are the leaders on these issues.
• Participate in the Equitable and Just National Climate Platform and Reconciliation Action Plans Platform. 
• Continue to act as a convener, a platform, and a leader in sharing outside voices and differing perspectives.

Achieving equity and racial justice demands standing in the literal and virtual front lines with our fellow Americans and global citizens, and saying “No More.” Be courageous in this moment. Be as courageous as you are when designing a living building or living community. Be committed in this moment. At a certain point, the protests will stop–the media will move on–but your voice will still be needed: to plan, to organize, to vote, and to support change.

Thank you for being part of the work we are doing to create a Living Future that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative.

Anthony Guerrero
ILFI Board Chair

Photo by LOGAN WEAVER on Unsplash

Editor’s Note: The following message was emailed to our community on April 8, 2020. If you’d like to receive updates like this, sign up for our monthly newsletter, Inbox Inspiration. To learn more about our new board chair Anthony Guerrero, read his March 2020 Q&A here. To learn more about our new interim CEO K C Gauldine read her bio on our website here.

I am pleased to announce that the International Living Future Institute board of directors has selected K C Gauldine to serve as interim CEO, as we proceed in our search for a new permanent leader for the role. 

K C is a seasoned veteran, with more than 30 years of experience leading nonprofits through executive transitions. As the board reviewed candidates for the interim role, K C stood out front because of her strong blend of management skills and expertise for innovation, translating business objectives into sound operating results and building valuable relationships. Her depth of experience is especially critical during the challenging times we are all living through. In addition to leading the organization day-to-day through this transition, K C will also support the executive search process, conduct an organizational assessment, and lead business planning as the Institute increases its reach and impact. 

Raised in a rural setting, K C’s father cultivated her love and respect for nature from an early age. Her childhood led to an understanding of the importance of experiential learning, manifesting in a life-long commitment to the Reggio Amelia philosophy of early childhood education. Serendipitously, this approach is practiced by the Bertschi School, the world’s first certified Living Building.  

K C recently noted to me that, “when I first learned about the International Living Future Institute, I felt a genuine connection and fell in love with the organization immediately. Reading through the website and strategy was like walking through my own mind.”  

Marja Williams, vice president of programs, recently mentioned to me how comforting it is to have someone of K C’s caliber leading the Institute’s talented team. “These are tricky times so this decision by the board puts wind in our team’s sails,” she noted. 

I completely agree. On behalf of the whole organization, we are thrilled to have K C leading the team through the transition period. You can read more about her here. 

Editor’s Note: The following message was emailed to our community on March 17, 2020. If you’d like to receive updates like this, sign up for our monthly newsletter, Inbox Inspiration. To learn more about our new board chair Anthony Guerrero, read his March 2020 Q&A here.

Dear ILFI Community,

As I sit here writing this email, the streets outside my window in the city that never sleeps are sparse and sleepy. I’m sure you are experiencing the same thing outside yours. And that’s what I wanted to emphasize today—while we may be sitting by ourselves in our homes reading this email, we’re all in this together. 

These are unprecedented times navigating through uncharted waters. The global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus is grabbing all of the headlines, our attention, and more and more, our well-being. The only thing certain is that we’re not alone.

When I joined the board of ILFI four years ago, I did so out of admiration for the group of people that were leading the movement around the most ambitious sustainability goals in the world. Every day since then I’m awe-struck by the passion and expertise of our staff, project team members, ambassadors, and volunteers with our collaboratives around the world. 

What we can offer now is an extension of that—our community as a virtual gathering place for everyone aligned around a common mission: a world that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. That commitment doesn’t waver at a time like this, and in fact, grows even more important as we are reminded daily of how critical it is to foster equity, culture, and resiliency through a crisis.

Over the coming weeks, ILFI will be sharing some ways we are sustaining hope through this crisis and inviting all of you to join us—everything from transitioning our flagship event, Living Future, into a global digital event available to more people than ever, to hosting a virtual happy hour, or giving you a Facebook Live tour of one of our more remote Living Buildings, we’re going to be thinking of all the ways we can support one another. Meanwhile, we are inviting you to share your stories and ideas with us. What is keeping you going right now? What kind of support could a community like ours provide? More online courses? Interviews with our technical experts? Stories from your own living room? 

Hope doesn’t replace good handwashing, but it does help us get out of bed every morning, care for others, and stay committed to the communities and causes we love. We’ll be sharing our ideas too, on our social media channels and in emails to come. Come join us online. And keep watching for us in your inbox.

With gratitude,

Anthony Guerrero
Board Chair, International Living Future Institute

P.S. Many of you are asking us about our annual Living Future event, and we can’t wait to reveal how we’re moving this event online and transforming it into a global gathering and call to action for our entire community. Details are coming together rapidly, please keep it on your calendars!  

In February of this year, Development Manager Liz Harder had a chance to talk with ILFI’s New Board Chair, Anthony Guerrero. Get to know Anthony, his vision for the organization, how the CEO search is going, and what he does on his days off.

Liz Harder (LH): What inspired you to initially join ILFI’s Board of Directors?

Anthony Guerrero (AG): I joined the Living Future Board of Directors in 2016 after learning about the holistic nature of ILFI’s programs. The great work ILFI was doing to create an ecosystem of initiatives that touch everything from affordable housing to building products made me want to be part of the journey ILFI is on. At the time, I had led two green building projects for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), where I now serve as Chief Real Estate and Sustainability Officer. These projects were incredibly progressive at the time, but we were still challenging ourselves to use only the healthiest building materials in our buildings; we needed a stronger protocol for materials vetting. At this point, we learned about the Living Building Challenge, with its multifaceted approach to green building design, and didn’t look back. We’ve converted all of our buildings and operations (including seven main offices globally, approximately 700 staff and 200,000 square feet of office spaces) to follow the Living Future’s holistic spirit of sustainability. 

LH: What sets your leadership apart from others working in environmental sustainability? 

AG: I’m a big picture thinker and love looking at things from a holistic, operational perspective. This means I also tend to empower teams to collaborate, take risks, and be in a safe community together. Crucially, my leadership is also unique because of my perspective as a person of color working in sustainability spaces. We lose important perspectives in a sea of white voices and need to focus more on cultivating a diverse and inclusive workforce, as well as a diversity of thought. 

LH: Speaking of leadership, can you give us an update on ILFI’s search for a new CEO? What are some of the key attributes of our next leader?

AG: Absolutely. We’ve selected Kittleman & Associates as our executive search firm. Meanwhile, we’ll be looking for an interim CEO to lead our efforts during this transition. I’m excited to be working with our new board Vice Chair Paolo Bevilacqua, other search committee members Elizabeth Heider, Jason McLennan, Margaret Montgomery, and Tom Bland, as well as some of the ILFI leadership team. We’ll be conducting staff interviews to get a better idea of the type of leader that ILFI team members find effective. We’ll be looking to identify what the best attributes of our next leader will be. My personal take: ILFI needs a leader with nonprofit and business experience, the ability to create a culture of empowerment on staff, and strong ties to our community.

LH: With a new leader, where do you see ILFI in a year? What excites you about the direction we are going?

AG: ILFI’s ideas are so important because we lead by example. We continue to roll out new, sometimes radical sustainability initiatives into an ecosystem of human-centered certification standards. We might not see the impact of this immediately, but it’s clear from how much the market has shifted in the past ten years that what we do is working. We’re a small organization transitioning for growth, and I’m personally excited to work with the depth of resources on the board and bring my strengths, as well help govern during these changes, then stepping back and removing obstacles for our staff to galvanize this growth.

LH: Of the core tenets of ILFI’s mission (socially just, culturally rich, & ecologically restorative), which resonates with you most? 

AG: Honestly, all of them. What I like best about ILFI’s mission is that it doesn’t explicitly state that we offer certification standards, but instead states our bigger aspirations. 

LH: There are many organizations working on green building–what do you see as ILFI’s niche? 

AG: Our niche is that we are not just a certification standard. Some organizations might be crippled by that being their only operation, but we’re propelled by our holistic approach. Like I said, we’re in this for aspirational reasons, which allows us to do more. We can talk about advocacy, we can talk about diversity and inclusion, we can talk about gender. It’s empowering. 

LH: What do you see as the big opportunities in front of us, given the urgency of challenges facing society?

AG: Our biggest opportunity is focusing on climate adaptation and resiliency. There’s no denying our world has warmed to the point where we have no choice but to design around these changes. We also need to consider opportunities to alleviate suffering on communities most impacted by climate change–those who have lost homes to wildfires, or who lack access to clean drinking water. We have an opportunity to further lead by example and show this industry what good looks like.

 LH: You have been involved in five Living Building Challenge projects. What was this experience like? 

AG: Being involved in LBC projects has resulted in a complete systems-thinking change at NRDC. We continue to optimize our operations so that we’re always thinking in the spirit of the Living Building Challenge long after construction is complete. In other words, certain tenets of the LBC are now second nature to us. For example, every product we purchase and introduce to our offices has to be vetted for materials health: we will only introduce products that are proven safe for an indoor environment. Having gone through the LBC, we know that the choices we make in design will impact people for a lifetime–there are no cutting corners.

LH: You led the first tenant improvement project to earn Living Building Certification. Given how many buildings are in need of retrofits, what did you learn that might apply to work on existing buildings? 

AG: Focusing on existing buildings is crucial–a large percentage of the problems in the built environment come from existing buildings, and we can’t afford the waste of tearing down buildings just to rebuild. Again, we need to keep in mind the bigger picture. Even if you’re not doing any new construction or renovating, how can you use the spirit of the LBC to make incremental positive changes? Look at your heating/cooling systems, look at the materials you’re using–there are opportunities for improvement at every turn.

LH: Finally, what do you do for fun on a day off? 

AG: I have two sixteen-year-olds, love movies, and actually fly gliders (sail planes). I belong to a club here in New York, a Valley Soaring Club (VSC), and get the opportunity to take a few gliders out for flights.

***

Thank you, Anthony, for your time and fearless leadership through this transition!