ILFI Staff

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 Kathleen Ave, Climate Program Manager at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD): Q: How did you become involved with ILFI? A: California’s first Living Building is also the world’s first certified Adaptive Reuse project, renovated…

The Net Zero Conference is the largest green building event hosted annually in California and the largest net zero building event in the world. This year’s conference, NZ19, will be hosted at on October 2 – 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The International Living Future Institute is a Program Partner for this groundbreaking event, helping to shape the…

Every year before our Living Future unConference (April 30 – May 3 in Seattle) we host several workshops and summits for the folks who can’t quite get enough of the excitement, community, and inspiration that the conference fosters. These workshops cover a wide range of subjects, from Living Buildings and Biophilic Design to multicultural workforces and equitable supply chains, and…

Last November, ILFI CEO Amanda Sturgeon spoke at TEDMED 2018, the independent health and medicine edition of the world-famous TED conference, dedicated to “ideas worth spreading.” In her speech, Amanda talked about biophilic design, human health, and how the former can benefit the latter, as well as the role architecture can play in bringing nature back to our (mostly indoor)…

The nutrition label for products expands into Europe for manufacturers, architects and designers The Institute is thrilled to announce two upcoming events to celebrate our European launch of Declare: London: June 13 at Foster & Partners Paris: June 19 with ARP-Astrance January 24, 2019 (Bolzano, Italy)  – The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) and Living Future Europe Initiative (LFEI) announce the…

ILFI is pleased to announce that Megan Ritchie Saffitz has moved into the role of Vice President of Operations + Certification at the organization. Megan began her tenure at ILFI in 2017 as Certification Director. We feel fortunate to have Megan on staff, lending her many strengths to help ILFI run smoothly.  “I am very excited to take on this…

Living Building Hero brings board expertise and green building thought leadership to the International Living Future Institute. January 15, 2019 (SEATTLE) – The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) announced today that Elizabeth (Beth) Heider, Chief Sustainability Officer, Skanska USA, has become a member of the Board of Directors. ILFI administers the Living Building Challenge – widely recognized as the world’s…

Reports depicting the dire situation of our warming planet continue to emerge (even on holiday weekends.) They confirm for the world what we and climate scientists already know: human-caused climate change is happening and we are running out of time to change its course. It is clear to the Living Future community that we need radical, rapid change — beginning…

The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) is excited to celebrate the late scholar and Yale University social ecologist Stephen R. Kellert’s legacy with the 2018 Biophilic Design Award at this year’s Greenbuild Expo in Chicago. The winner will be announced from the five outstanding projects selected by the jury. Each project highlights how rapidly biophilic design has entered architectural practice…

Our 12th annual Living Future unConference took place May 1-4 this year in Portland, OR, where we gathered to share ideas, get inspired, and collaborate with our community to work toward a Living Future. While it’s hard to pick just a few highlights from the jam-packed conference, here are some of our favorite moments that were captured on camera, including…