With NeoCon 2023 just around the corner (June 12-14), the leading commercial design platform will offer unparalleled opportunities for us to connect, share ideas, and celebrate together, while showcasing the latest design trends and what’s next for the built environment at THE MART in Chicago!

1. Innovative Design

This year’s edition will offer thousands of attendees an insider look into the driving forces behind design progress and what is shaping the public interiors of the future. With 400+ leading and emerging exhibitors, whose head-of-the-curve research and commitment to understanding the changing needs and demands of an ever-evolving population, the NeoCon show floors will offer an immersive display of what designers and specifiers should consider when creating a better built environment—from generational design and ESG prioritization, to technology integration and global perspectives.

2. Captivating Experiences & Activations

NeoCon 2023 promises an array of captivating experiences across the show floors and public spaces. Engaging activations abound––including the multi-functional lounge by ASID on the first floor, SANDOW’s immersive DesignScene and Metropolis Magazine’s Sustainability Lab on the 11th floor, and the inaugural NeoCon Podcast Studio Powered by SURROUND. Exhibitors such as SnapCab, Armstrong Flooring, Darran Furniture, Mohawk Group, Haworth, InPro, molo, KFI Studios, Snowsound, and Zenbooth are set to showcase impressive installations and spaces throughout. Finally, be sure not to miss the innovative Art on THE MART projection by Gensler Chicago on the South Facade of the building. Head here for the full lineup of activations.

3. Engaging Events 

Attendees can look forward to dazzling events like IIDA’s Revel in Design and the DIFFA Chicago Gala: Caribbean CARNIVAL, trend-setting award programs like Best of NeoCon and Interior Design’s HiP, festive parties like NeoCon’s new Tuesday “Happy Together Hour” on the River Park and the annual MRL + NAIRC NeoCon AfterHours party, and engaging on-site gatherings hosted by SnapCab, and BIFMA, just to name a few. Head here to start marking your calendars!

4. Insightful Keynotes & Featured Presentations

World-renowned quantitative futurist Amy Webb, Co-Founder of MASS Design Group Michael Murphy, The Hip Hop Architect Michael Ford, and Chicago Hip Hop Legend & MIT Professor Lupe Fiasco will headline this year’s NeoCon. Pulling from diverse backgrounds and experiences and drawing inspiration from music, poetry, technology, and the power of community, they will explore how we can build a more sustainable, equitable and brighter future. The keynotes will be complemented by a number of featured presentations from industry thought leaders exploring topics ranging from rethinking the concept of occupancy in an evolved work landscape, to the power of design to be a force for good when it comes to social justice. Daily keynotes and featured presentations will be presented onsite and also available via livestream on the NeoCon Programming Hub. Head here to see the full roster!

5. Timely CEU Sessions

More than 50 virtual and on-site CEU-accredited programs and hands-on workshops will feature speakers from leading design associations, universities, architecture firms, manufacturers, and top media outlets, as well as experts in emerging technology, sustainable building, and inclusive workplace culture. These presentations and panels will offer lively discussions and insight into evolving industry topics, including Workplace, Sustainability, Healthcare, Technology, Wellness, Hospitality, DEI, Public Space, and Facilities Management. Head here to see the full line-up!

Show-goers, get ready for an unforgettable NeoCon experience!

ILFI issued this statement on June 1, 2020. For more details on how you can help and what ILFI is doing to address equity and racial injustice, read Board Chair Anthony Guerrero’s message from June 8, 2020.

ILFI stands in solidarity with the communities of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people suffering from and protesting against the structural and individual racism and white supremacy facing our country. We grieve the loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the thousands of additional men and women who have been killed as a result of these deeply rooted, systemic inequities. We can’t talk about building a world of living buildings when we can’t guarantee the safety of people in communities of color. In order to break down injustice in the built environment, we must ensure justice everywhere.

Black Lives Matter.

 ILFI announces new Board Chair to lead CEO transition

January 21, 2020 (SEATTLE) – The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) announced today that Anthony Guerrero, Chief Real Estate and Sustainability Officer at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), will become their new Board Chair. Vivian Loftness of Carnegie Mellon University will also join the Board as a Director. 

ILFI is currently seeking a new CEO, after its current leader Amanda Sturgeon announced she would step down from the position on February 4, 2020. 

At NRDC, Guerrero leads core operations and sustainability across its offices worldwide, which include Beijing; San Francisco; Bozeman, Montana; Santa Monica, California; Chicago, Washington, D.C.; and New York City. Its Chicago office was the first tenant improvement project in the world to achieve Living Building certification. 

“Between my time on the board and my experience advancing Living Building Projects, I am deeply committed to ILFI’s mission,” said Guerrero. “During the CEO transition, I’m looking to bring both a steady hand and my perspective as a leader of color to help ensure the Institute continues to define what ‘good’ looks like.”

Loftness, the former Head of the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon, is an internationally-renowned researcher, author and educator with over thirty years of focus on environmental design and sustainability, advanced building systems integration, climate and regionalism in architecture, and design for performance in the workplace of the future. She has served as an advisor to ILFI’s Biophilic Design Initiative. 

“Given the challenges facing our planet and the people who call it home, I share the sense of urgency driving ILFI’s programs,” said Loftness. “We all have a responsibility to push the envelope on climate action, and I look forward to joining the board of this world leading organization.”

ILFI’s Board of Directors include the following:

Board Chair: Anthony Guerrero, Chief Real Estate and Sustainability Officer at NRDC

Vice-Chair: Paolo Bevilacqua, General Manager at Frasers Property Australia

Vice-Chair: Elizabeth (Beth) Heider, Chief Sustainability Officer at Skanska

Treasurer: Tom Bland, owner of Sequoia Financial Consulting

Secretary: Margaret Montgomery, Principal and Global Sustainable Practice Leader at NBBJ

Immediate Past Chair: Jason McLennan, founder and CEO of McLennan Design

Members: 

• Ted van der Linden, Principal at Integral Group
• Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Urban Strategist and Author, Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet
• Vivian Loftness, University Professor and former Head of the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University
• Carolyn Aguilar Dubose, Professor at Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City
• Lisa Petterson, Senior Associate at SRG Partnership
• Richard Piacentini, President and CEO at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

About the International Living Future Institute

The International Living Future Institute is an environmental NGO committed to catalyzing the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. ILFI is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world. ILFI operates the Living Building Challenge, the built environment’s most ambitious performance standard. It is a hub for many other visionary programs that support the transformation toward a living future. Learn more at www.living-future.org.

# # #

CONTACT:

International Living Future Institute

media@living-future.org

206-223-2028

Over the next few weeks, we will be running a Q+A blog series in which we showcase the ten incredible change-makers who represent our 2019 Living Future Heroes. Introducing Victor Montero, CEO of the Regenerative Built Environment Institute and longtime Living Future Ambassador:

Q: How are you involved with ILFI?

A: I have been an Ambassador and Facilitator of the Costa Rica Living Future Collaborative since 2012. Since then, I’ve been advocating for a Living Future by organizing community events in collaboration with Costa Rican universities and organizations – we’ve hosted over 30 events sharing the Living Future philosophy with more than 1,000 people locally. At least two currently registered Living Building (LBC) and Living Community (LCC) projects have been as a result of our outreach.

Q: What was your “aha” moment that inspired you to join this movement?

A: I read the book Philosophy of Sustainable Design by LBC founder Jason McLennan back in 2009. This inspired me to reach out directly to ILFI shortly after to get engaged in their work, and shortly after trained to become an Ambassador. Since then, I’ve been engaged with LBC, Declare, and LCC projects in Costa Rica, creating a community of green practitioners who are creating transformational change and developing their careers in sustainability.

Q: How did your background lead to where you are in your career now?  

A: While studying Architecture, my research was on sustainability, specifically Socio-biotic Communities as an operative model of sustainability. Shortly after, I was nominated to the first International Architecture Biennial of Costa Rica and placed first under the History, Critics, Research and Theory category. Following this, I founded the Environmental Program in the K-12 Instituto Educativo Moderno schools, and helped them win the 1995 award for Contributions to the Quality of Life by Costa Rica’s Ombudsman. I also founded Universidad de Costa Rica’s first interdisciplinary Sustainable and Peace Institutional Program. Then, in ‘98, I was designated by the Costa Rican government — their National Weather Institute — to participate in the IPCC’s International Workshop Industrial Transformation group. Shortly after I was also designated as the National Coordinator of Earth Charter, a United Nations initiative that’s now part of the UN University of Peace, and I led their representation at the Continental Conference of the Americas in Brazil. 

For a few years after that, I served as the Urban and Development Planning Director for the Spanish municipality Montes de Oca. Then, in 2009, I opened my own firm and have been working as an independent green practitioner since then, hoping to start delving into regenerative design.

Q: How do you see yourself creating a Living Future in the next 5 years? How have you in the past 5? 

The past five years, I’ve seen myself collaborating in the planning and design of many Living Buildings, some progressing to Living Communities, but also advocating for a transformative market of building materials at the same time. It’s exciting and so worth it to see that payoff. I want to help expand the seeds of the Living Future and its positive impacts in Latin America and the Caribbean, and make ILFI’s programs more accessible for Spanish speakers. 

Q: What is your Call to Action for the green building community? (or our wider society? or budding leaders in this movement?)

My call to action is that our action requires a different approach – we need to move away from reactive. I see the movement requiring action on a personal level — creating our own transformational change and being the best partner our planet could have. Then, action on a community level, growing and collaborating together, expanding education and knowledge. Finally, on an operational level — we must walk the talk on a global and national level.

Over the next few weeks, we will run a Q+A blog series showcasing the ten incredible change-makers who represent our 2019 Living Future Heroes. Introducing Amy Johns, Senior Strategy Consultant for Integrated Eco Strategy (IES) and formerly Director of the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives at Williams College:

Q: How did you become involved with ILFI?

A: I became involved with ILFI through the building of the now Petal certified, Class of 1966 Environmental Center, at Williams College, where I was recently Sustainability Director. It has been amazing to see how the Living Building Challenge process has created an evolution of the conversations we have regarding sustainability from where we first began.

At Williams College, they are still building ILFI projects; they currently have a building registered for Petal as well as one aspiring to be, another pursuing Zero Energy, and now even a project registered for the Living Community Challenge.  

Q: What was your “aha” moment that inspired you to join this movement / become involved in ILFI programs?  

A: My involvement has been such a gradual process, so I cannot recall one individual “aha” moment. But I have always believed that there are deeper issues that require attention in the sustainability crisis, and the fact that LBC is involved in topics beyond the core sustainability issues was very inspiring to me. 

Q: How did your background lead to where you are in your career now?  

A: I got a biology degree but took a winding road to sustainability work.  I worked in software engineering for a while, then a small environmental non-profit, then various sustainability projects at Williams. I recently went back to school to get a sustainable MBA. I find it fascinating and interesting that there are so many people coming from different backgrounds, all with the same passionate interest.

Q: How do you see yourself creating a Living Future in the next 5 years? How have you in the past 5? 

A: Over the past 5 years I have worked at steering sustainability at Williams College and I am continually shocked with what I have gotten away with in that role. I have found it a blessing to work in higher education because I have not had to worry on profit, I am able to do work in the name of sharing research and knowledge.

For the next 5 years, I’m making a bit of a career transition.  I’m shifting into sustainability consulting – working with Integrated Eco Strategy to bring a lot of what I’ve learned at Williams to other institutions.  Sharing information and passing on what I’ve learned to help the whole movement scale up is the focus of my next career stage. And because it’s something I feel passionate about, I will continue to encourage others to draw the connection between equity and the environment.

Q: What is your Call to Action for the green building community? 

A: First and foremost, that environmental sustainability and issues of justice and inclusion are and need to continue to be inseparable. Climate change is a social justice issue. Along with that, it’s important to remember that there are deeper issues at work – we can’t let this become a mechanical process. We can get stuck in the details, but need to bring back the ‘why’ and the deeper reasons. We are fighting for justice, equity – across time and space and this is the driving force.

Over the next few weeks, we will run a Q+A blog series showcasing the ten incredible change-makers who represent our 2019 Living Future Heroes. Introducing Lauren Sparandara, REWS Sustainability Program Manager at Google:

Q: How did you become involved with ILFI?

A: For the last three years, I have been working to obtain the Living Building Challenge Materials Petal Certification for Google’s Charleston East project, a ground-up office development in Mountain View, California. It’s one of Google’s most ambitious construction projects to date from a sustainability and workplace design perspective.

Q: What was your “aha” moment that inspired you to join this movement / become involved in ILFI programs?

A: It’s easy to get dismayed when you read or hear the news; it sometimes feels like so much is broken with regard to sustainability and the built environment. ILFI’s programs turn that paradigm on its head and instead seeks to imagine the world we want to live in—a world that isn’t just a little less bad, but instead the world we want to live in—a world that’s fully sustainable. The Living Building Challenge creates a rough roadmap for achieving a new vision while aiding teams to map the specifics of the course. We need more inspirational viewpoints and the world needs new models. ILFI and the Living Building Challenge help to shape that new vision.

Q: How did your background lead to where you are in your career now?

A: I spent many summers as a child at a summer camp in Yosemite, right around the Middle Fork of the Tuolumne River. As part of the summer camp experience, we would embark on backpacking trips into Yosemite National Park, where we were surrounded by immense natural beauty. Those summers played a pivotal role in establishing my interest in protecting and preserving nature for others to enjoy. 

In college and graduate school I dedicated myself to deeply understanding sustainability from multiple perspectives. While studying architecture, I started my university’s first multi-disciplinary organization for green building, helping to envision a more sustainable future. Later as a master’s student, I focused on material sourcing and sustainability of our material supply chain.

As a professional, I have held many different roles. I have worked as a consultant working with clients to pursue their sustainability goals, often through achieving LEED Certification. At Google, I focused first on the sustainability of our global building operations and now on the sustainability for our ground-up construction projects in the Bay Area.

Q: How do you see yourself creating a Living Future in the next 5 years? How have you in the past 5?

A: The birth of my son has defined the past three and a half years of my life. Being a mom has reframed how I approach the sustainability movement—it became personal. My son will live in a world heavily affected by climate change. This compels me to show him all that I love about nature and to explore with him how we might work to improve it.

My family recently moved into the home that I grew up in Silicon Valley. It’s given my son a chance to observe the same bugs and climb the same trees that had fascinated me as a child. It has also prompted me to think more about how to genuinely “think globally, act locally.” I’ve enjoyed engaging in my sustainability community by joining the City of Mountain View’s Sustainability Task Force. In the coming years, I plan to continue to find ways to tie the work I’m doing for Google to the community that I call home.

Lastly, in these next few years I would love to continue to partner with others in furthering global efforts toward a circular economy. I am especially driven to spotlight the need to see decisions around circularity and health as being fundamentally interconnected—two sides of the same coin. 

Q: What is your Call to Action for the green building community? (or our wider society? or budding leaders in this movement?)

A: Let’s continue to find ways to connect with one another, across divergent beliefs, around a positive vision for a shared future. In order for us to be effective as a movement, we must be able to bring more people into our cause. To truly expand the sustainability community, we have to listen to one another, even to those with whom we sometimes disagree. Let’s talk about the beauty of the future we want together.

Over the next few weeks, we will run a Q+A blog series showcasing the ten incredible change-makers who represent our 2019 Living Future Heroes. Introducing Rochelle Routman, Chief Sustainability Officer at HMTX Industries:

Q: How did you become involved with ILFI?

A: I attended the 2012 Living Future unConference as a newcomer from the Southeast region of the US, and quickly noticed that the audience was mostly architects from the Pacific Northwest. The message seemed somewhat theoretical, but that didn’t matter to me. I immediately fell in love with the people, the programs, and saw the organization’s potential: one that supports life on earth rather than chipping away at the productivity of our ecosystems.

At the time, I noticed that ILFI didn’t have any major corporate sponsors. I attended sessions on Declare but realized that it wasn’t widespread yet in adoption. JUST had been recently rolled out, but also was not yet widely embraced by manufacturers. It became immediately clear to me that my mission was to validate ILFI’s work in the corporate sector, and help ILFI go beyond its nucleus by spreading its message to wider and more diverse audiences.

After attending that unConference, the sessions, the keynotes, and the new people I met were all I could think about. I knew I had to sell my employer (at the time, Mohawk Industries), on supporting ILFI – and after several dinners and bottles of wine, the first significant corporate sponsorship for ILFI came through.That sponsorship was primarily focused on helping ILFI expand their collaboratives across the country through “educational cocktail parties” (bit of an oxymoron). As a result of these events, the awareness of the LBC was expanded to 20 different cities, with many new people committed to a Living Future and several new collaboratives.

In my new role as Chief Sustainability Officer at HMTX Industries, a global flooring company that is led by our open-minded CEO Harlan Stone, I continue in my role as an advocate for all of ILFI’s programs. In fact, HMTX Industries was the first Global Angel sponsor of ILFI with a focus on China, as well as Australia and Europe. There are even more exciting announcements to be made in the near future regarding HMTX Industries’ commitment to a Living Future. Stay tuned!

Q: What was your “aha” moment that inspired you to join this movement / become involved in ILFI programs?  

A: I read an article in Trim Tab magazine called Religion, Science, and Spirit: A Sacred Story for Our Time by Dr. David Korten. As a scientist and a person interested in spirituality, I was immediately captivated by this article. This theology identified the human role as one that supports the continued evolution and creation of life on earth. Dr. Korton’s ideas were very similar to mine, and it was a major epiphany when I discovered there were other people thinking the same way!  The best part was that he was a speaker one year at Living Future, and I had the opportunity to hear and meet him in person!

Q: How did your background lead to where you are in your career now?  

A: I’ve always been fascinated with the environment. I grew up in Western Pennsylvania and had a fantastic middle school teacher who took us on fossil collecting field trips. I knew I was meant to be a geologist and embarked on that course of study at the University of Georgia. But in the 80’s, geology graduates were encouraged to work for oil companies. I was often told, “you’ll never make any money working for the environment – you need to work in oil!”  Needless to say, I did not heed this advice and instead began my career in the environment working for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

I went on to attend graduate school to study Environmental Policy at Georgia Tech, then worked for an aerospace company and an electric utility before finding myself in the flooring industry. I still rely on my background in the natural sciences and use it every day to guide my decisions, particularly in how I live my life and what I communicate to others.

Q: How do you see yourself creating a Living Future in the next 5 years? How have you in the past 5? 

A: In the next five years, I see myself continuing along the path of transparency, but with an increased focus on social justice. As HMTX’s Chief Sustainability Officer, I have an open forum to communicate my ideas and educate employees and customers about the important work that ILFI is doing.

At HMTX Industries, I’m working with large customers to spread the word about social justice. I view social equity and JUST as the new frontier in building product transparency, and in fact equivalent in importance to product transparency. HMTX has acquired JUST labels with our two main Chinese factories, and this was a first for a flooring manufacturer as well as any company doing business in Asia.

As part of our Global Angel Sponsorship of ILFI, HMTX Industries will bring Living Future programs and events to China in 2019 as a way to engage the biggest construction market in the world. I look forward to connecting with people from diverse backgrounds, and bringing more people into this mission.

Q: What is your Call to Action for the green building community?

A: Keep putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. We need to remain true to ourselves, yet seek employment with organizations and work with trade organizations that don’t traditionally support an environmental agenda.  It is through this uncomfortableness that we will be able to influence others and recruit a larger army, which is needed to accomplish a living future.

Further, we need to quit being fearful about vocalizing our beliefs. For far too long, those that are concerned about the environment and all of life on this glorious planet have been silent, but the declining environmental systems, including the climate crisis, demand us to chart a new course in a big way and speak our minds and our plans for the future with integrity and confidence.

Over the next few weeks, we will run a Q+A blog series showcasing the ten incredible change-makers who represent our 2019 Living Future Heroes. Introducing Lisa Petterson, Principal at SRG Partnership:

Q: How did you become involved with ILFI?

A: I first time I heard about the Living Building Challenge was when Cascadia Green BC hired Jason McLennan. From the moment the LBC was announced in 2006, I have been a fan and advocate. At the first Living Future UnConference I submitted a project that won an award for being the most thoroughly analyzed project that year. Later I was a part of the first Living Building Financial Study, which looked at long term costs of LEED gold buildings versus Living Building Challenge projects. In 2010 I was elected as the Oregon representative on the Cascadia Green Building Institute. I served on that board until 2014, when CGBC was dissolved. I was then one of three members that transitioned to the ILFI Board. 

Q: What was your “aha” moment that inspired you to join this movement and become involved in ILFI programs?  

While I wasn’t present at Greenbuild when Jason introduced LBC, when I heard about it after the fact, I immediately became an enthusiastic supporter. I always thought that what LEED was missing were the true gravitational forces for architects – beauty, health, inspiration. Two days after LBC was announced I saw the standard and knew that LBC was it.

A: How did your background lead to where you are in your career now?  

I am a University of Oregon graduate and I attribute much of my interests to this degree, focusing on the Environment. I now teach Environmental Control Systems at the Portland campus of the University of Oregon, hoping to inspire my students the way my professors inspired me.

Q: How do you see yourself creating a Living Future in the next 5 years? How have you in the past 5? 

A: Over the next five years I hope to plan to make living buildings at a larger scale, because I want to be able to show all that is possible for Living Buildings.

Q: What is your Call to Action for the green building community?

A: I believe it is up to all of us to create a Living Future – to me, a Living Future entails Equity and diversity. Combined together with original tenets of LBC these make a powerful movement we can all stand behind. With the full package of equity and diversity as well as traditional sustainability we can achieve amazing things.

New Declare Labels Piloted by Partners Armstrong Ceiling and Wall Solutions, Interface, Superior Essex Communications in Bold Commitment to Transparency and Accountability

October 9, 2019 (SEATTLE) — Today the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), announced the first of its new Declare labels that include product embodied carbon alongside ingredient disclosure, reinforcing ILFI’s commitment to transparency in the building products industry. Partners Armstrong Ceiling and Wall Solutions, Interface, and Superior Essex Communications have supported this paradigm shift through several pilot Declare labels that broadens the scope of material health. The Institute and its partners will present a deep dive on this topic at the Living Product Expo in Nashville, Tenn., October 8-10.

Declare is a transparency platform and product database that has immensely changed the materials marketplace. The program’s simplicity and ease of use by both manufacturers and product specifiers have helped fuel market demand for chemical transparency and healthier building products.

As industry-leading organizations, Declare manufacturers are being asked to invest in the future of material health: embodied carbon. From the sourcing of raw materials, manufacturing, and transport, to the waste created through the entire product life cycle, quantifying the contributions of the supply chain and manufacturing of building products to the climate change problem creates data that can be turned into action. With the additional knowledge of how environmental impacts can further exacerbate human health outcomes, these new Declare labels now incorporate new critical decision making criteria into an important procurement and specification tool. 

Declare’s pilot manufacturers have shared their assessments of these impacts through their products’ third party-verified environmental product declarations (EPDs), completed under relevant product category rules (PCRs) that define common parameters for each product category’s calculations. EPDs also give manufacturers more insight into where exactly in their production process lie the biggest opportunities to make significant reductions and improvements. 

“With this pilot program, ILFI is addressing embodied carbon directly,” said James Connelly, VP of Strategic Growth at ILFI. “As an industry, we’re used to thinking about material health in terms of its impact on human health; now we are leading the products industry with the recognition that embodied carbon, with its impact on climate change and global pollution, also has serious ramifications for human health.” He concluded, “Our partners are moving the needle on transparency around not only materials but also the energy that goes into manufacturing that have long-term consequences on this planet.”

“Armstrong has been doing life cycle assessment for over ten years. We have used this valuable tool to gain real insight into our products and their impact on the environment. As with all of our transparency efforts, we have incorporated it into our Design for the Environment Process,” said Anita Snader, Environmental Sustainability Manager, Armstrong Ceiling and Wall Solutions. “From the screening of new materials in our products, to reviewing optimization opportunities at our plants, we our driving the reduction in impact of our products. We are happy to continue to support ILFI and its efforts in carbon reduction as the leading ceiling manufacturer in all forms of material transparency and disclosure,” continued Snader.

“Climate change is the biggest threat to human health, but in the past, material health has focused only on immediate threats to human health. Including embodied carbon on the Declare label is a huge step toward educating specifiers on more of the health impact of the materials they select,” said Lisa Conway, VP Sustainability, Americas, Interface, about the new pilot program.

“Fundamentally our organization believes in going beyond simple transparency, and has chosen to lead by example. We are working to utilize life cycle assessment data to include life cycle impact thinking into our product design process. Providing embodied carbon information alongside transparent compositional chemistry information on our Declare labels provides a more holistic story for our products, and we’re committed to make finding this information easier for our customers,” said Annie Bevan, Global Head of Sustainability at Superior Essex Communications.

With the many initiatives and platforms in the materials marketplace today, it can be difficult to keep track of where to find the right information to make informed material selections. For architects and consultants working on green building projects that need to make these decisions while balancing other design considerations, making human health and environmental impact information easily accessible will accelerate better specifications and encourage the creation of an increasing number of healthy products. This addition to the Declare program presents a critical opportunity to make collective strides toward global climate commitments. 

About the International Living Future Institute

The International Living Future Institute is an environmental NGO committed to catalyzing the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. ILFI is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world. ILFI operates the Living Building Challenge, the built environment’s most ambitious performance standard. It is a hub for many other visionary programs that support the transformation toward a living future. For more information please visit https://living-future.org/. 

# # # 

Volume Commitments and Updated Standards Scale the Creation and Adoption of Healthy Materials

October 9, 2019 (NASHVILLE) – The healthy materials movement began with a few intrepid designers, manufacturers and forward-thinking nonprofits asking a simple question: Why can’t every place we live, work and play be free of toxic chemicals and harmful materials? Organized by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), this year’s Living Product Expo 2019, October 8-10 in Nashville, celebrates significant milestones and proof points on the journey to that aspirational goal: 

• Since its inception, the healthy materials movement has rapidly expanded from a small group of groundbreaking projects to major Living Building Challenge (LBC) 4.0 volume commitments from some of the world’s most innovative and impactful organizations: Google, King County, PCC Community Markets and a group of affordable housing developers.
• A similar revolution has taken hold in the manufacturing, architecture, engineering, and construction communities: 50 of the world’s leading manufacturers have signed on to the “LP50 Letter,” a statement demonstrating their commitment to creating healthy materials as part of the Living Product 50. In addition, 70 of the world’s leading design firms have signed the Materials Pledge, publicly stating their intent to prioritize material health as part of a holistic approach to building sustainability. The year’s Expo marks a significant milestone from the launch of the program in 2015 – 47 products are certified to the Living Product Challenge, more than double the number in 2018 and accelerating quickly.

Also announced at the event:

• ILFI released an update to Declare, the ingredients label for building products. Declare 2.0 increases usefulness and legibility of the label, aligns with LBC 4.0, and ensures scalability. This year, Kohler, Toxnot, and ILFI announced a partnership to dramatically grow the Declare program by streamlining the process of supply chain data collection, third-party verification and label production. Manufacturers can now quickly adopt Declare across their entire portfolio of products with a more integrated and simplified process. 
• Declare has also added embodied carbon to the label, elevating the issue of climate impact of building materials to consumers and specifiers. Armstrong Ceiling and Wall Solutions, Interface, and Superior Essex Communications are participating in the pilot.  
• Armstrong Ceiling and Wall Solutions, one of the first adopters of the Living Product Challenge, with Imperative Certification for TECTUM Ceiling and Wall Panels, received ILFI’s Manufacturer Visionary Award for its industry leadership and commitment to transparency and healthy materials.

“While there is much further to go, progress has been remarkable in the five short years since the launch of the Living Product Expo. These key milestones mark a clear turning point on the path to a future that can ensure ‘Healthy Materials for All,” stated James Connelly, Vice President of Strategic Growth, ILFI.

About the Living Product Challenge and Expo

The Living Product Challenge re-imagines the design and construction of products to function as elegantly and efficiently as anything found in the natural world. The creation of this program kicked off a groundbreaking new event that brought together leading minds in the product industry to inspire a revolution in the way materials are designed, manufactured and delivered: the Living Product Expo. At Living Product Expo 2019 participants share and discover disruptive new ideas and technologies that are reshaping the materials landscape, accelerating the pace of innovation and making Living Products possible.

About the International Living Future Institute
The International Living Future Institute is an environmental NGO committed to catalyzing the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. ILFI is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world. ILFI operates the Living Building Challenge, the built environment’s most ambitious performance standard. It is a hub for many other visionary programs that support the transformation toward a living future.

###

Over the next few weeks, we will run a Q+A blog series showcasing the ten incredible change-makers who represent our 2019 Living Future Heroes. Introducing Joel Cesare, Sustainable Projects Manager at the City of Santa Monica:

Q: How did you become involved with ILFI?

A: I worked in the Bay Area at Skanska for two years and had colleagues working on the Bertschi School project in Seattle. In 2014, I interviewed to be Green Building Advisor for the City of Santa Monica, and was told that if I got the job I might be able to work on the City Hall project – which was considering LBC. They had just hired a team to do the feasibility study, and at the time this was a lukewarm, “let’s see what’s possible” commitment. Once we learned that LBC was possible, we really took on a mindset that nothing was going to stop us. There was a core group of us who recognized Santa Monica had the opportunity to do something special.

Q: What do you consider your “aha” moment which drove you to get involved?

A: Shortly after registering and committing to a LBC project, I attended the 2014 Living Future unConference. There I was introduced to the fascinating, world-changing people involved in the movement. The topic of the first session I attended at LF14 was on peak phosphorus, and I thought, ‘yes, this is my kind of group.’Buildings as resource producers, not consumers. Once you embrace that paradigm shift, there’s no going back. 

Q: Tell us how your background resulted in your career today?

A: I went to school on the East Coast with the goal of studying Law, but took some Geology coursed and realized I was an environmentalist. After graduating I moved to California to get to the ocean; my goal was to be a surfer. I got into Environmental Insurance and quickly realized I wasn’t solving environmental problems or doing anything positive for humanity. At that point, I enrolled in grad school at the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara, where I did my Master’s thesis on green buildings. Since then I’ve been able to work on innovative sustainability projects all over the world. 

Q: How do you see yourself creating a Living Future in the next five years?

A: I’m so inspired by this work and motivated by the challenges of doing a Living Building – I’m eager to see this scale. I want to see how I can take everything I’ve learned and spread it to places that might seem slower to adopt the Living Future movement. I also look forward to continuing to grow the One Watershed program we created at StokeShare, the organization I co-founded to build community around sharing action sports equipment. We crowdsource outdoor gear to connect at-risk youth to nature through action sports. I grew up in nature – I credit that upbringing to my professional career protecting the environment and want to help everyone have access to that lifestyle.

Q: Finally, what’s your call to action to this community?

A: My call to action to the Living Future community is that we need to be bolder, louder and more committed to scale. ILFI has done a tremendous job taking green building standards to the next level, but it sometimes still feels a little niche. We need bigger and more diverse projects, and to think boldly and urgently about scaling this movement.

Over the next few weeks, we will run a Q+A blog series showcasing the ten incredible change-makers who represent our 2019 Living Future Heroes. Introducing Amira Ayoub, Sustainability Consultant for the Egypt Green Building Council:

Q: How did you become involved with ILFI?

A: In 2014, I started to learn about the Living Building Challenge (LBC) and reading about the flower metaphor. The act of building to mimic nature – that was the concept I’ve been searching for! Whenever I talk to clients or even friends, I always say that the LBC is my favorite building standard. I’ve been volunteering as a Living Future Ambassador ever since. In 2016, I became a facilitator for the Cairo Collaborative, and am now registering the first Living Building in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region!

Q: What do you consider your “aha” moment which drove you to get involved?

A: Again, I’d say it was the moment I found out about the LBC’s flower metaphor and how the standard seeks to mimic nature. We can find so many solutions in nature!

Q: Tell us how your background resulted in your career today?

A: I attended architectural school and worked in one of the top international companies in the Middle East. I worked at DAR Group for seven years, where I first learned about the LEED rating system and first found myself feeling passionate about the green building movement. Through this work, I also found myself becoming more passionate about the LBC.

Q: How do you see yourself creating a Living Future in the next five years?

A: I dream of having many Living Buildings in the MENA region. We know that a resilient future is required, and MENA is being affected by global climate change in a drastic way. Building more Living Buildings is our way of creating a resilient future to cope with what will be happening soon/ is already happening. This work is urgent and crucial, but we need to start with raising awareness here. Most people don’t know why the climate is changing, and what we should be doing to protect our future and our children. 

Q: Finally, what’s your call to action to this community?

A: We need to act now. The problem we face requires us to be brave enough to do that, because we can’t wait for a better life to come along. A resilient future is the only way to ensure our survival and the survival of our children.

Latest title from Ecotone Publishing author Jonathan A. Wright honors first-hand accounts.

September 26, 2019 (SEATTLE) Celebrating the champions addressing climate change, Living Building Makers: Creating Sustainable Buildings That Renew Our World is a handcrafted collection of stories about the remarkable people who bring the built environment to life. Each chapter captures the insights, creativity, humor, and discoveries of the often-unsung individuals – builders, designers, engineers, educators, tradespeople, operators and owners – who rolled up their sleeves to play a pivotal role in creating two of the greenest buildings in the world on the campus of Massachusetts’ renowned Hampshire College.

Veteran builder Jonathan A. Wright’s storied first-hand accounts share how these dedicated professionals transformed their corner of the world by the way they leaned into their work. In the process, the nature of their own work is changed forever.

“Every day for several years, women and men carried out seemingly ordinary work-related tasks to accomplish something extraordinary,” says Wright. “I wanted to honor and commemorate that work and am so happy to have partnered with Ecotone Publishing.” 

A “Living Building” is one that is regenerative and connects occupants to light, air, food, nature, and community; is self-sufficient and remain within the resource limits of their site; and creates a positive impact on the human and natural systems that interact with them.

Says Denis Hayes, President of the Bullitt Foundation (and principal national organizer of the first Earth Day), “Architects, perhaps understandably, get the lion’s share of the public credit for exceptional buildings. But Living Building Makers introduces us to the engineers, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and other unsung heroes who all perform at their peaks to achieve ultra-high-performance structures. This book is a powerful reminder that it takes a village to create Living Buildings.”

Author Jonathan A. Wright is an accomplished maker with more than forty-five years’ experience as an expert builder specializing in the construction and design of sustainable, healthy, high-performance buildings. His penchant for craft is evidenced beyond the built environment as a published poet of several works including After the Rain (2014) and Season of Dreams (2018).

In 1970, Jonathan joined the first entering class at Hampshire College where he thrived in the non-traditional educational setting. He enjoyed the quality of life in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts so much that he decided to stay, joined by his wife, pianist Meg Kelsey Wright, where they made their family home in Northampton. He founded Wright Builders, Inc. in 1974, and the firm has since achieved more than forty LEED certifications in addition to the R.W. Kern Center and the Hitchcock Center for the Environment Living Buildings.

Perhaps even greater than his passion for wood, water, food, notes, or words, Jonathan cares about people and the richness derived from learning their personal stories. His overarching compassion for the health of people and the planet is ingrained in everything he makes.

Living Building Makers is currently available online. Use the code LBM20 for 20% off for a limited time only.

###

Over the next few weeks, we will run a Q+A blog series showcasing the ten incredible change-makers who represent our 2019 Living Future Heroes. Introducing Bert Gregory, Partner at Mithun:

Q: How did you become involved with ILFI?

A: I’m currently involved as juror for the Stephen Kellert Biophilic Design Awards, as a member of the Cascadia Congress, and recently participated in a Biophilic Design Toolkit Workshop, led by ILFI.

Q: What was your “aha” moment that inspired you to join this movement / become involved in ILFI programs?

A: It was a natural evolution from early involvement in green building to my involvement with ILFI. After seeing groundbreaking work in the green building I saw inspiration of a structured path beyond green building.

Q: How did your background lead to where you are in your career now?

A: I’ve always been an outdoor enthusiast, forever marveling at the beauty of the natural world and its ecosystems. But I also love great cities and urban life. As an architect and urban designer, I have attempted to make a city function and feel like being in the natural world.

Q: How do you see yourself creating a Living Future in the next 5 years? How have you in the past 5?

A: The next five years, as have the last five, will be focused on impacting various levels of Policy that preclude or hinder advancement of an equitable Living Future for all, advancement of Biophilic Design at various scales, and creating great urban places where people and nature thrive.

Q: What is your Call to Action for the green building community? (or our wider society? or budding leaders in this movement?)

Designing policy, is as important as the design of a project. Find the roadblocks to a Living Future, and use your creative talents to design the policy that accelerates positive change.

Living Future Institute Australia Board Chair brings Asia Pacific experience to the International Living Future Institute

May 28, 2019 (SEATTLE) – The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) announced today that Paolo Bevilacqua, Frasers Property Australia’s General Manager – Real Utilities and Chair of the Board of Living Future Institute Australia (LFIA), has become a member of the Board of Directors.

ILFI administers the Living Building Challenge–widely recognized as the world’s most ambitious green building program–which is transforming the building sector through strategies such as zero energy, toxic-free materials, and onsite rainwater collection and use.

“The Institute is delighted to bring Paolo onto our Board,” said Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of ILFI. “Paolo has been a tireless and passionate advocate for the Institute’s programs in the Australia Pacific region and will bring the ILFI board a strong vision for collaboration and partnership that will continue to grow our programs globally, ” she added.

“I am honored to be joining the Board of an organization that has defined what good looks like for buildings, products and communities worldwide,” said Paolo. “The ILFI programs are recognized as the most advanced and rigorous in the world. They are challenging, yet attainable when the right combination of talent, passion and intent is brought together. It is incredible to see leaders all around the world take on this challenge, including Frasers Property Australia’s very own retail team which is developing the world’s first Living Building shopping center. I look forward to bringing my knowledge and experience with the LFIA and the Asia Pacific real estate market to help scale the ILFI programs even further,” he added.

Paolo Bevilacqua, currently the General Manager – Real Utilities at Frasers Property Australia, has over 15 years’ experience in the property industry and is one of Australia’s leading sustainability professionals, responsible for delivering cutting-edge sustainability solutions to many high-profile projects across various sectors. Paolo now heads Real Utilities, a recently established carbon neutral energy retailer and utilities business wholly owned by Frasers Property Australia. In addition to being Chair of  LFIA, he is also a member of the Property Council of Australia’s National Sustainability Roundtable.

Welcome, Paolo!

# # #

The International Living Future Institute has announced the recipients of its 2019 Living Future Hero Awards. The new Heroes were recognized at the Institute’s Big Bang Dinner, a focal point of its annual Living Future unConference.

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 the Living Future programs and mission. The individuals chosen as our Heroes exceed expectations in environmental advocacy, champion Living Future projects and products, and share this vision with their peers.

“We honor these heroes for their commitments to the Institute’s mission: to lead and support the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. We tip our hats to them for continually pursuing and improving how projects are designed, materials are specified, and construction is performed,” said Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the Institute.

“The actions of these incredible individuals exemplify the leadership required to combat climate change,” said James Connelly, the Institute’s Vice President of Product and Strategic Growth. “In a world full of uncertainty and fear, these bold risk takers are showing how optimism tied to concrete action can create powerful change in each of our communities.”

This year’s Heroes are:

• Jenna Cramer, Executive Director, Green Building Alliance
• Lauren Sparandara, REWS Sustainability Manager, Google
• Amy Johns, Director, Williams College Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives
• Bert Gregory, Partner, Mithun
• Joel Cesare, Sustainable Projects Manager, City of Santa Monica
• Kathleen Ave, Climate Program Manager, Sacramento Municipal Utility District
• Amira Ayoub, Faculty, USGBC and Egypt Green Building Council
• Lisa Petterson, Principal, SRG Partnership
• Rochelle Routman, Chief Sustainability Officer, Aspecta Flooring
• Victor Montero, President, Costa Rica Natural Design Advisors

Heroes were nominated by Institute leadership familiar with their accomplishments and selected by Institute CEO Amanda Sturgeon.