Getting to Know the ILFI Board

We sat down recently with board member Julie Hiromoto to ask her thoughts on ILFI’s direction, the building industry, and how her passion for dancing shaped her work on regenerative design.

Given what you know about us, what is the most important thing the Institute does for the community?

The International Living Future Institute inspires meaningful and transformative change and then convenes a community of experts, advocates and champions to GET IT DONE. We break barriers around the world, pushing boundaries of municipal codes and regulations, challenging the status quo and implementing truly regenerative buildings – for the ecosystems in which we live, for our souls, and for flourishing communities.

Where do you think our organization should make connections that would help strengthen our mission delivery?

We need more clients, owners and investors who understand the value of a regenerative future. Once we connect with these stakeholders, ILFI can also help decision makers understand that developing a Living Building does not have to be led by a team that has already done it. Most certified LBC projects were delivered by teams who were figuring it out for the first time. We need to grow this movement and there are many qualified teams who can help.

What do you think is one of the most exciting things happening in the regenerative building movement?

We are at the precipice of scaling this movement. If you look at the number and scale of projects being registered today, it is really exciting. For example, in 2012 the Institute registered 19 projects encompassing approximately one million square feet. In 2022, those numbers have grown to 105 projects registered, representing 10 million square feet of development – a 10x increase a decade later. 

Given the urgency of climate change, health and social justice, how can we increase the pace, scale and impact of the regenerative building movement? 

We need to broaden the tent to grow the community and provide access to training, resources, and best practices. Several colleagues in my organization have completed the LFA process. They are hungry to soak up more knowledge and experiences. Most importantly, they are eager for an opportunity to apply them on a real project!

What’s one thing about yourself that would surprise people?

I’ve been a dancer since age 3. During high school, I briefly considered becoming a professional dancer, until I dislocated my knee cap the first weekend of a summer intensive at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. As I spent the rest of the summer recovering in PT, I understood how fragile and ephemeral our bodies are. I decided a career working with buildings and our built environment would have a lasting impact. It’s a joy to have the opportunity to beautifully design equity, well-being and resilience into people’s everyday lives. 

Living Buildings offer permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness

Communities are stronger when everyone has access to safe, affordable housing. This central principle guides the BLOCK Project, which offers homeowners in Seattle a tangible way to help address homelessness by placing a BLOCK Home in their yards. 

“We want to use design to create a path for everyone to get involved in ending homelessness,” Jenn Lafreniere, originator of the BLOCK Project, said in a TED Talk she delivered with Rex Hohlbein, the other originator who is also her father. “There are times, circumstances, conditions, when we all know that we need to come together to take action,” Rex added.

As in many cities, too many people are living outdoors in Seattle. In fact, the city issued a civil emergency proclamation about homelessness in 2015. In the years since, the issue has only worsened, particularly during the pandemic. 

Jenn and Rex were looking for a way to make a difference. Their solution was to create a way for people to get involved while also providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness. 

“It’s like when a river is about to crest and flood a town and everyone pitches in to stack sandbags and do whatever they can to help,” Jenn noted.

The BLOCK Project was born. 

The project builds fully equipped, healthy homes that are permitted and placed in homeowners’ backyards throughout the city, giving residents a place to call home. At the same time, the BLOCK Project offers neighborhoods across the city an opportunity to make a difference to address homelessness.

Every BLOCK Home is designed to achieve the Living Building Challenge. From rainwater capture and solar energy generation to FSC wood and Red List-free materials, BLOCK Homes are Living Buildings. 

“We want these to be a dignified place to live,” Rex noted in the TED Talk. “The International Living Future Institute provides the needed framework and inspiration to keep us moving forward with sensitivity and clarity, helping us create the type of buildings and communities our world needs,” he added in an email exchange.

“All of us know we need to be in service to efforts addressing the climate crisis,” Rex stated. “How we shape the built environment has the ability and responsibility to define human interaction with the natural world. Our future depends on finding sustainability in those relationships, across all levels.”

While the BLOCK Project provides housing, it also reorients neighbors to see people experiencing homelessness as individuals; to learn their stories and understand their passions; to build relationships and friendships. “When we see the individual person within the larger issue, this is the beginning of the solution,” Rex concluded.

The BLOCK Project continues to move forward under the direction of Facing Homelessness.

Your donation supports community impact

Around the world there is a community of visionaries pushing for a living future every day. In ways great and small, these leaders are changing minds, overcoming obstacles and bringing ambitious projects to life. Individually, they cause ripples that show what’s possible. Collectively, they envision a regenerative future. Your donation to the International Living Future Institute enables us to support this community with programs, technical support, events and education. Please consider a donation today.

The Heart of School creates a space for children to learn from nature

To make the world a better place, learning places must be open spaces. This is the idea at the center of the Green School Bali, which is a radical departure from the experience founder John Hardy had growing up as a child with undiagnosed dyslexia. School put a straight-jacket on his creativity, leaving him deeply disaffected. 

John and his wife, Cynthia, created the Green School to show a different way. Inspired to act after watching Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, the Hardys believe that education is the best way to change the world. And the best education lets kids get their hands dirty and learn from experience. From this seed, the Green School grew. 

“Rather than containing its learning environment within four walls, the Green School embraces nature and integrates with the outdoors,” according to Rita Trombin, an environmental psychologist who is a former staff member at the school. 

From the choice of indigenous materials, including structural bamboo, to the natural sinuous shapes and patterns throughout, the Green School is designed with biophilia in mind. 

At its core is a building known as the Heart of School, which was inspired by fractal geometry, composed of interwoven spirals that draw upon the Fibonacci sequence that is so common in nature. From above, the roof forms three nautili spiraling into one another, which allows natural light to reach the spaces below. All classrooms are open air, with wide views to the nearby tropical forest.

“The Heart of School’s biophilic architecture was designed as a biological organism living in the community,” notes Trombin. “These spaces are restorative, healthy, and beautiful; they nurture a sense of affection and attachment.”

A three-storey building on steep terrain, the Heart of School is designed to inspire a bond with the surrounding environment, so students can think more expansively about it. The building encourages children and adults alike to seek adventure, connect with others and enjoy coming to school. 

Not surprisingly, the Green School has drawn luminaries such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall. The project has also earned a Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award from the International Living Future Institute.

The Green School practices holism. As founder John Hardy says about a smiling young student in his TED Talk, “If this little girl graduates as a whole person, chances are she’ll demand a whole world to live on.”

At the Heart of School, innovation and entrepreneurship flourish. Children are encouraged to embrace creativity, following a holistic model of sustainability built around a unique compass: nature (North), economy (East), society (South), and wellbeing (West). 

Every day the Heart of School reminds people that dreams do come true, which is the mindset we desperately need in tomorrow’s leaders to solve the big challenges facing humanity today. 

Your donation supports community impact

Around the world there is a community of visionaries pushing for a living future every day. In ways great and small, these leaders are changing minds, overcoming obstacles and bringing ambitious projects to life. Individually, they cause ripples that show what’s possible. Collectively, they envision a regenerative future. Your donation to the International Living Future Institute enables us to support this community with programs, technical support, events and education. Please consider a donation today.

Biophilic Design Award winner connects children and nature in New Orleans

With the world’s largest grove of live oaks stretching overhead, the Louisiana Children’s Museum was uniquely designed for New Orleans’ City Park. This didn’t happen by accident, but rather as an explicit commitment to the Museum’s CEO, Julia Bland. “This would be a building and place that could only be on this site,” recalled Richard Franko, principal in charge of the project at Mithun. Unlike the grocery store exhibits common to almost every other children’s museum, in Louisiana they were “trying to create something essential to New Orleans,” according to Franko. 

With alligators swimming lazily by in the lagoons that connect to Bayou St. John, the site offered special challenges. For example, the park was designed to be a receiving area for stormwater, part of a regional strategy based on approaches to flood management from the Netherlands. During Hurricane Katrina, the site found itself under more than four feet of water, more than the typical 1-2 foot floods. 

As a result, resilience was a key design strategy. It is also a core value for the Museum, albeit from the perspective of raising resilient kids. Nonetheless, it only made sense for the project to design with flooding in mind. From flood-tolerant native plants to boardwalks that allow visitors to access the museum during high water, the team designed a building in line with the natural systems of its site. 

When the Children’s Museum set out to create a new home, one of their goals was to rethink how they engage with children and families. While “biophilia” may not have been the word they used, their goal was to address nature deficit disorder by creating opportunities for kids to spend time outdoors on their 8.5 acre site – and to bring nature inside the building. 

For example, the Museum was designed so anyone who walks through the park can have experiences without going inside. The Museum brought public benefits to everyone in the public park, such as the fog sculpture that shrouds visitors in a gentle mist. Kid-sized windows – “kindows” – offer cozy nooks to view the turtles, butterflies and birds outside, with design features mimicking the curves of the Mississippi River nearby. 

“The philosophy grew out of environmental education, where every place is a learning place,” Franko explained. “We tried to create a full immersion experience.” 

As a result of the thoughtful approach, the Louisiana Children’s Museum won the 2021 Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award. “The Award recognizes on a larger international stage something we thought was essential: the interconnection between children and nature,” Franko noted 

Integrating biophilia into the design of landscapes and buildings does not happen by coincidence; it is an intention that threads through a project. And too often, concepts like “biophilic design” may seem abstract when people first learn of them. “It’s really important to have examples that inspire us as designers,” Franko said. “We always need a new aspirational level, and to see aspirations realized.” 

The Louisiana Children’s Museum shows that when we design buildings with natural systems in mind, we create solutions that are efficient, resilient and refined. Their new building will shape generations of children, tomorrow’s leaders who will have to find solutions to the challenges we face today.

Your donation supports community impact

Around the world there is a community of visionaries pushing for a living future every day. In ways great and small, these leaders are changing minds, overcoming obstacles and bringing ambitious projects to life. Individually, they cause ripples that show what’s possible. Collectively, they envision a regenerative future. Your donation to the International Living Future Institute enables us to support this community with programs, technical support, events and education. Please consider a donation today.

Mona Nahm’s path to a Living Future was long and winding, and built on personal experiences. 

She was in Thailand when the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami struck. The first Thai-English translator to reach a disaster site, she witnessed firsthand the fear people felt in the aftermath, as they realized everything they owned had been swept away. For Nahm, this fear stirred her own memories of being homeless for almost a year as a teenager.

It was during the next few months, as she volunteered for recovery organizations, that Nahm first considered a career change. The film industry had brought her to Thailand, but now the importance of housing re-emerged inside her. As she drew parallels between disaster relief and affordable housing, her new path started to come into focus. Like her experience with temporary housing, disaster relief seemed focused on the short term without consideration for sustainability. Tents, for example, were commonly discarded after use. However, it still took her over ten years to commit to the career change. 

Nahm had fallen into the film industry when she was a teen living without a home in Los Angeles. Working in a Thai restaurant, a wealthy patron told her, “if you come to Thailand, I’ll make you a star.” She saw a way out of poverty. 

Alas, acting was not Nahm’s forte, so she shifted work to movie set design. In retrospect, she again saw a wasteful industry discarding resources at the end of each production. Awareness about sustainability was low.

Once she entered a Master’s of Fine Arts program in interior design, her passion for sustainability came into focus. While her initial motivation was to reduce waste, a holdover from her time on film sets and with disaster relief, her interest grew toward healthy materials as she learned about volatile organic compounds and other common hazardous chemicals. 

While working with YA Studio, Nahm first encountered the International Living Future Institute. “I saw the flower growing out of the dirt as a reflection of myself,” she noted. “I am someone who grew with the resources around me.” 

A project Nahm worked on was accepted into the Institute’s Affordable Housing Pilot Program, where she had an opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals. “ILFI is creating a little family,” she said, noting “I would not have this community without the affordable housing pilot program.” 

Today Nahm is a designer with YA Studio, where she designs diverse and inclusive spaces to directly benefit communities and respond to our current economic and environmental pressures. 

“Every time I am on a project I think, what can we do to contribute to that project?” Sustainability is not something I will stop caring about.” 

Your donation supports community impact

Around the world there is a community of visionaries pushing for a living future every day. In ways great and small, these leaders are changing minds, overcoming obstacles and bringing ambitious projects to life. Individually, they cause ripples that show what’s possible. Collectively, they envision a regenerative future. Your donation to the International Living Future Institute enables us to support this community with programs, technical support, events and education. Please consider a donation today.

SEATTLE, May 17, 2022 – The International Living Future Institute announced the 2022 Living Future Heroes, along with the winner of the Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award and newly certified building projects, as Living Future 2022: Restoration + Justice came to a close. The Impact Celebration caps two weeks of virtual programming with leaders of the regenerative building movement.

“It is fundamentally necessary to have a large and passionate community of advocates showing up to push for a Living Future,” said Lindsay Baker, CEO of the Institute. “The award winners, Living Future Heroes and teams behind the certified projects are all leaders in a strong and growing movement that brings strength in numbers.”

The Living Future Hero Award was created to acknowledge and celebrate individuals in the regenerative design community who have dedicated significant time and effort to advancing a Living Future, which is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. Heroes exceed expectations in environmental advocacy, champion Living Future projects and products, and share this vision with their peers. The 2022 Living Future Heroes are:

• Sonja Bochart, Founder, Sonja Bochart Well Being + Design for being a powerful advocate for a Living Future and biophilic design as a designer, speaker, educator and writer.
• Heidemarie Bonilla de Cienfuegos, Architect, B100 arquitectos for pushing sustainability in El Salvador through education, projects, regulations, and the El Salvador Green Building Council.
• Arthur Clarke, Director, Sustainability & Impact, HTMX Industries for being a champion of a Living Future across organizations and collaboratives at the national and international levels.
• Bruno Deraedt, General Manager, Leading Architect & Engineer, BAST architects & engineers for leading development of a Living Future in Belgium and across Europe.
• Mark Edlen, CEO, Edlen & Co for developing more deep green buildings than any other commercial developer, showing the market that they can earn a good rate of return.
• Thulani Vuyo Kuzwayo, Director, PaperThinkLAB for building a movement in the Global South as a Living Future Ambassador, and collaborative and nonprofit leader.
• Juan Rovalo, Senior Ecologist and Integrated Design Specialist, Biohabitats, Inc. for hundreds of projects in 10 countries that integrate ecology into design and planning processes.
• Paul Schwer, President, PAE for building a firm that champions a Living Future, exemplified in the Bullitt Center, Rocky Mountain Institute, and the company’s new headquarters.
• Kate Turpin, Director, Design Performance, Google for raising the level of ambition for building- and district-scale projects through application of Materials and Water Petal certification.

In line with the Institute’s recently released strategic plan, these leaders are helping to envision a Living Future and show that it works better in practice and policy. They demonstrate through their actions that the building industry can transform far faster and more radically than many assume. By aiming for truly “good” buildings, rather than incremental improvements alone, the 2022 Living Future Heroes show that we can make progress far faster and in more transformational ways.

The Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award acknowledges Stephen’s legacy as a pioneer in articulating and applying biophilic design principles to the built environment. His advocacy has encouraged widespread adoption of the practice of design for human-nature connection.

The award is in recognition of achievements in the built environment, including buildings, interiors, and communities, that demonstrate the principles and benefits of biophilic design.

The 2022 Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award winner is the JR Kumamoto Railway Station Building in Kumamoto, Japan. Embodying Kumamoto’s uniqueness, the building serves as a symbol of the recovery from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. The facility’s centerpiece is the “Boken no Mori” (“Adventure Garden”), a large indoor multi-floor garden of water and greenery that extends from the ground to the seventh floor. The atrium is stepped to allow natural light inside, while dozens of plants native to Japan are arranged in an environment optimized via digital simulation.

In addition to announcing the award, the Institute also released a free Biophilic Design Toolkit and announced the first-of-its-kind Foundations of Biophilic Design Certificate at Living Future 2022.

18 building projects were honored for achieving certification under the International Living Future Institute’s rigorous programs:

• Cope Environmental Center, Centerville, IN – Living Certified
• The MAC Lodge at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, Finland, MN – Living Certified
• 237 Moffett Park Drive, Sunnyvale, CA – Petal Certified (Materials)
• Fort Bradshaw Renovation, Williamstown, MA – Petal Certified (Materials)
• Mohawk + Daltile Toronto Showroom, Toronto, ON, Canada – Petal Certified (Materials)
• PCC Bellevue, Bellevue, WA – Petal Certified (Materials)
• PCC West Seattle, Seattle, WA – Petal Certified (Materials)
• WRNS Seattle Office, Seattle, WA – Petal Certified (Materials)
• Archimania’s Office, Memphis, TN – Dual Certified: Zero Carbon and Zero Energy Certified
• ARCC East County Branch Office and Archives, Santee, CA – Zero Energy Certified
• County of San Diego, Borrego Springs Library, Borrego Springs, CA – Zero Energy Certified
• Creekside Community High School, Tigard, OR – Zero Energy Certified
• Drumlin Farm, Lincoln, MA – Zero Energy Certified
• Kaiser Santa Rosa Medical Office Building 6, Santa Rosa, CA – Zero Energy Certified
• Rose Villa – The Oaks, Portland, CA – Zero Energy Certified
• Success High School, Woodburn, OR – Zero Energy Certified
• Tilal Al Ghaf Pavilion, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Zero Energy Certified
• Westwood Hills Nature Center, St. Louis Park, MN – Zero Energy Certified

Another eight projects have achieved Ready Designation by completing the Ready Audit after construction. These projects will undergo a Final Audit after a 12-month performance period:

• Arch Nexus SLC, Salt Lake City, UT – Living Ready
• Nexus Builds 2020, Salt Lake City, UT – Living Ready
• Inspire at Russell W Young Building, Seattle, WA – Petal Ready (Energy)
• Amazon Fresh North Seattle Store, Seattle, WA – Zero Carbon Ready
• GreenA Consultants HQ, Singapore, Singapore – Zero Carbon Ready
• Microsoft Silicon Valley, Mountain View, CA – Zero Carbon Ready
• Navigate Office Center, St. Louis, MO – Zero Energy Ready
• PG&E Davis T-line Fab Shop, Davis, CA – Zero Energy Ready

These projects represent a dramatic increase in momentum, scale, and complexity for the world’s most advanced, holistic performance standards for buildings. With 170 certified projects and 552 registered projects, the International Living Future Institute is making waves across 39 countries.

The International Living Future Institute also celebrated the positive actions of its community from this past year in advancing the materials market and making more equitable workplaces. Assa Abloy, Crossville, Humanscale, Industrial Louvers, and Superior Essex achieved a combined 31 Living Product certifications, which is the world’s most advanced standard for healthy, sustainable products. The Institute gave a special shout out to Humanscale, which finalized 26 certifications in 2021.

Along with these Living Products, the Institute celebrated the milestone of 1,000 active Declare labels from more than 200 different manufacturers. Declare is a nutrient label for building products. These labels represent 38 different CSI divisions from more than 25 countries, including Australia, China, Italy, Mexico, and New Zealand.

Just, which is the Institute’s social justice self-disclosure program for organizations, experienced tremendous growth this past year, with more than 150 active labels and 140 organizations in process. In 2021, Just contributed to a better working experience for more than 23,000 employees. The three largest organizations that achieved a label in the past year include DPR Construction (6,804 employees), Teknion Limited (2,819 employees), and Humanscale (1,000 employees).

The Institute also issued a new book through its Ecotone imprint, The PAE Living Building: Developer-Led, Nature-Inspired, which takes a deep dive into the financing, design, and construction of Portland’s first project to pursue Living certification.

Living Future 2022 also offered a chance for community reflection. Perhaps the most acute lesson of the pandemic is the enormous difference between individual resilience and collective resilience. The past two years have shown that although there are pathways to survive the worst catastrophic events available to some, to survive as an individual can be meager, lonely, and hollow. Surviving as a community is the only path forward to a flourishing future where our cultures, our institutions, our cities, and our communities can continue to exist. In the coming months, guided by its strategic plan, the Institute will move beyond supporting individual projects, to coalesce and mobilize for public policy reform and a rapid shift in the industry culture.

Living Future 2022 was made possible due to the generous support from a community of sponsors: Google, which was Presenting Sponsor and Living Future Scholarship Donor; Glumac, which was Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Sponsor, Beauty + Biophilia Track Sponsor, and Living Future Scholarship Donor; King County GreenTools, which was Climate Justice Track Sponsor; Kohler, which was Resilience Track Sponsor; Mecho, which was Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Sponsor and Health Track Sponsor; Perkins&Will, which was Zero Carbon Track Sponsor; SmithGroup, which was Living Future Scholarship Donor; Sustainable Minds, which was Sponsor and Media Partner; AIA Committee on the Environment, which was Media Partner; along with Architectural Nexus, Artisan Moss, ASSA ABLOY, Bassetti Architects, Beneficial State Bank, Bio Studio, Bruner/Cott Architects, Epsten Group, GLY Construction, Group14 Engineering, HMTX, McKinstry, PAE Engineers, Toxnot, and WRNS Studio.

The International Living Future Institute offers our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all LF22 Sponsors. Thank you.

About the International Living Future Institute
The International Living Future Institute is a global nonprofit organization that envisions a Living Future – a society that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative – and shows that it works better in practice and policy. The Institute operates the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most ambitious, advanced, and holistic performance standard for green, resilient, and healthy buildings. It is also a hub for many other visionary programs that support the transformation toward–and provide a compelling vision for–a living future accessible to all. Learn more at www.living-future.org.

As part of a planning process, ILFI deployed an online survey regarding facets of the organization and its messaging; the survey was completed by 790 people. An outside PR consultant, Brad Kahn, also conducted a set of 10 interviews with green building leaders – some of whom have participated in Living Building or Zero Energy projects, and others who have not. Following below are ten key takeaways from this research process. These findings, and others, are being used to inform the development of an institutional communications plan.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the world’s most trusted forest certification, helps building project teams, consumers and companies identify and purchase products from responsibly managed forests. FSC conserves wildlife habitat, protects clean water and respects the rights of Native people and local communities on 170 million acres of forestland in the US and Canada. 

While hundreds of companies offer FSC-certified building products in the US and Canada (with thousands more around the world), it can be difficult to meet specific needs. To address these concerns, the Forest Stewardship Council worked with the Northwest Natural Resource Group to develop an FSC Wood Finder. This new online database allows project teams to search by product category, availability, and location to find available FSC products in the US and Canada. 

Because FSC’s mission is focused on using market forces to deliver additional social and environmental benefits, using FSC-certified products can have a meaningful positive impact on forests around the US and the world. For example, recent research finds that FSC certified forest management stores more carbon than conventional forestry, resulting in embodied carbon benefits from using FSC-certified products. 

Sourcing FSC products can require project teams to take a slightly different approach. Successful strategies include allowing more time for sourcing, conducting research to identify what’s available and specifying those products, and engaging a broader array of suppliers. 

The FSC Wood Finder is one part of the FSC Builder’s Guide, which is designed to help project teams use more FSC-certified products in construction. In addition to the FSC Wood Finder, the FSC Builder’s Guide also includes information about the benefits of FSC, sample specification language, how FSC differs from conventional forestry practices, and links to FSC continuing education.

The FSC team is also available to help. If you have questions, please email info@us.fsc.org for assistance.