A Member Impact Story

ILFI is proudly featuring a series of impact stories to showcase and celebrate the exciting positive effects of our Living Future Member community. In this month’s interview, we are pleased to feature the team at evolveEA.

When evolveEA was in its infancy, sustainability looked a lot different. “Embodied carbon, health impacts, and resilience weren’t all that well-defined 20 years ago,” shares Marc Mondor, AIA, who co-founded and leads the Pittsburgh-based firm with his wife, Christine Mondor, FAIA.

These days, the scope of problems that the green building movement addresses has greatly expanded, and as the industry moved forward, so did value-driven firms like evolveEA. What began for them as sustainable building consulting and design grew into education and communications, planning, and urban design. With this diverse experience, they’ve been able to apply sustainability principles at scale, and work with their clients to enhance their vision or mission–whether a sports team or a nonprofit—through sustainability solutions. They’ve worked on certified projects running the gamut from Living Buildings to WELL and EcoDistricts.

As members in the ILFI community might understand, certifications like the Living Building Challenge (LBC) can serve as both validation for work you’re already committed to as well as education into new areas to grow. “[We thought], of course we’re green…until we started looking at sustainability frameworks and realized we’d never considered this other issue.” What sets LBC apart for the firm is its standard of absolute sustainability rather than relative sustainability. 

A similar shift for evolveEA began with winning the Green Workplace Challenge held by Sustainable Pittsburgh starting in 2011. This celebrated and validated the firm’s first year of  carbon neutrality after having set the goal two years prior. These achievements started us on the path to our first B Corp Certification (2013), which we’ve maintained now for a decade and counting.

When the Just label was introduced to the industry in 2007, the team at evolveEA wondered whether this label differed at all from B Corp. They quickly realized the Just label complemented their work well, and helped strengthen their firm operations. “Just encourages us to continually re-examine how we operate,” shared Daniel Klein, Senior Communication Designer at evolveEA. 

This continual re-examination has led to new policies and standard operating procedures for internal improvements, but also helped the team to deepen and broaden their positive impact on communities where they work. Their Community Engagement Strategies are tailored to the needs of the project, in ways that build capacity within the community to ensure that plans reach their highest potential to benefit local organizations and individuals. Neighborhood planning processes have inspired participants to start small businesses and initiatives, addressing local issues like food desert status or initiating renewable energy installations. On other projects they’ve collaborated with artists or hired youth ambassadors who have emerged as community champions for equity and sustainability. Over time, evolveEA has established internal systems that ensure they’re engaging every community and client with intention and focusing on their unique needs, whether they’re designing a Living Building, a public transit station, or planning for the future of a whole city.

evolve environment :: architecture is a sustainable design and consulting practice founded in 2004 by Christine Mondor FAIA and Marc Mondor AIA, LEED Fellow, with a focus on people, processes, and places.

Christine has been active in shaping places, processes and organizations in the US and around the world through her work as an architect, educator, and activist. As evolveEA Principal, her projects are frequently recognized with national and regional awards for architecture and urban planning, and led three Pittsburgh area communities to become the world’s first EcoDistricts Certified municipalities. Christine also teaches architecture, landscape design and sustainability at Carnegie Mellon University and has been an invited lecturer and guest critic at many institutions and has presented at the Living Futures Conference, Greenbuild, and other international venues.

Marc sees triple-bottom line potential in every project and has been an influential voice in sustainability for decades. As Principal and cofounder of evolveEA, Marc works with greening design and construction projects, including the first LEED certified project in Africa, the oldest LEED EB certified project (1869) and the first certified Living Building in Pennsylvania. As former President of AIA Pennsylvania, Marc created the thriving COTE (Committee On The Environment) and EDI (Equity Diversity & Inclusion) committees, and Marc is Vice Chair of the PA Climate Change Advisory Committee, producing the Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan.

Daniel believes in the power of visual communication as a force for social impact and informed change making. As senior communication designer at evolveEA, he contributes conceptual direction, visualization, and content development to a broad array of project types. Daniel also leads evolve’s B Corp certification and Just label processes.

Interested in becoming part of our community of practitioners, organizations, and everyday advocates transforming the building industry through the holistic lens of climate, health, and equity?

Member Survey Results

In May this year, we conducted our annual Living Future Member survey. We seek out member feedback for two distinct reasons: to learn how we can improve, and also set my team’s objectives for the following year. Many thanks to the 242 of you who responded–you will have a direct impact on how ILFI’s membership program evolves next year!

Now for the survey results. On average, respondents rated their satisfaction as members as being 8.3 out of 10 (nearly reaching our goal of 8.5). 72% of respondents also told us they were “extremely” or “very” likely to renew. That’s excellent! (You can dig into more information about results here.) 

Of course, we still have much we can improve on. Here are some key takeaways we learned this summer, and how we plan to make changes next year.

1. Continuing education is a key benefit for members.

Continuing education (such as member CEU webinars) came in on top with nearly 70% of respondents citing it as one of their top three most valued benefits. 

We’ve been hosting member events since 2020, but it’s only in the last year that things have really kicked into gear. We now have a robust calendar of Member Events which includes webinars offering LFA + AIA credit just for our members. This is our way of sharing expertise from within the community and giving members a look into new developments and trends in regenerative design. 

We heard from respondents outside North America that they felt the time zones these webinars are held in don’t allow for their participation. This is something we’re keen to acknowledge in 2024, either by way of special webinar screenings for folks on the other side of the globe or leaning on our Regional Member Communities to host more locally-focused events. 

2. Members also enjoy our resources, but have had a hard time finding them.

Second to continuing education, respondents indicated that they valued the program and technical resources we make available in the Member Dashboard. Whether it’s our Living Building Challenge handbooks, materials tracking tables, or project guidebooks, members are finding value. 

• “I like the certification programs and resources – they are the most progressive and are really pushing for regenerative design.”
• “The [Member Dashboard] including forums and resources could be easier to navigate.”
• Navigating the website to find resources [could be better].”

However, in addition to that, members indicated that they found the resources difficult to locate, and the user experience of searching for resources in the Member Dashboard was lacking. To address this head on, we’ve rolled out a new Member Resource Library this week. 

This Resource Library has all of the resources and tools that members need to learn about our programs, share information with clients, or pursue labels and certifications. We’re excited to build out this library even further in 2024 with resources like program pitch decks, book excerpts, and more.

3. Members are looking for more opportunities to connect.

Finally, we noted extensive written feedback from members asking for more opportunities to connect with and learn from peers in the community. 

• “I wish there were more events to learn…to hear directly from project team members working on projects.”
• “[I want] a group devoted to support and energy in the indirect work change-agents need to maintain… a support group, celebration group, a kick-in-the-butt group.”
• “More engagement activities and opportunities… meet ups or webinars on a monthly basis.”

Shortly after this survey closed, we launched our Regional Member Community program. We now have seven active member groups from Washington State to Washington D.C., and across the Pacific in Australia. These member-led groups are currently organizing virtual and in-person events (think Living Building tours) for their communities and doing an amazing job of it. If you see a group in your area, check it out.

If you don’t see a regional community in your area, not to worry! We plan to expand our member groups in 2024–stay tuned for more information in your Member Newsletter. In the meantime, the Member Directory and Discussion Board are great ways to find folks to connect with.

Didn’t get a chance to fill out this survey and still want to share your thoughts? We’d love to hear from you–contact my team at membership@living-future.org. 

Cover photo by Jessica Yurinko.

Servant Leader and Just Label Advocate

ILFI is proudly featuring a series of member impact stories to showcase and celebrate the exciting work of our community. In this month’s interview, we are pleased to feature Shiloh Butterworth, Oregon Region Leader and Chief People Officer with PAE Consulting Engineers, servant leader, and Just label champion.

When Shiloh Butterworth retired from the U.S. military in 2015, he was presented with a new but not unfamiliar challenge: inspire people to do great work by connecting them with a larger mission. He transitioned to his current role leading people and culture at PAE, the Oregon-based sustainable engineering firm, and set to making changes with the support of CEO Paul Schwer. Soon after joining, Shiloh sought to secure a Just label for PAE, ILFI’s program for organizational transparency and equity. But Shiloh wasn’t just interested in transparency, he wanted to set the bar: “You don’t want to give merit to good intentions. You have to measure success.”

The first step was tackling gender diversity. PAE became the first large engineering firm to roll out a gender neutral paid leave program in 2016. They tackled pay-scale equity and living wages, of which they rank highly in the Just label’s equity indicators. Any Just organization will tell you that the transparency of the label is an inherent motivator for improvement. For PAE, pursuing Just provided valuable lessons and prompted healthy conversation internally. Ultimately, Shiloh shares, “that’s the organization you want to be a part of. Employees want you to commit to action.” 

Along with their mission to address the climate crisis through solving energy and water challenges in the built environment, the actions that PAE has taken to champion equity in their workplace show an organization living its values. This inspires employees to love their work and drive innovation, and PAE’s track record of innovation is not hard to find. The firm touts 17 Living Building projects, showing what’s possible for commercial buildings like the Bullitt Center in Seattle, WA, and the Kendeda Building on Georgia Tech’s campus in Atlanta, GA. The Kendeda building proved to be a new challenge for regenerative design for the PAE team with satisfying results. “When you create a Living Building in places like Georgia with high humidity, we demonstrate to the world that we can create sustainable buildings truly anywhere. Our staff find that type of challenge really inspiring.” 

As a Living Future Member, Shiloh continues to champion transparency and equity for other organizations in our industry. Last year, he joined ILFI’s Organizational Equity Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a member-led taskforce informing the evolution of the Just program. In this role, Shiloh has contributed valuable insights on how to thoughtfully approach revisions to Just’s program indicators as ILFI works towards launching a new iteration of the label, Just 3.0. 

Shiloh Butterworth is the Oregon Region Leader and Chief People Officer for PAE Consulting Engineers, overseeing the Oregon Region, Employee Experience (HR), Learning & Development, Facility and Administrative Operations, and serves on PAE’s Board of Directors. Shiloh also works with ILFI as a champion and partner for Just, equity, and business transparency. Shiloh is a transformational thought leader on people, organizational culture, and employee engagement. He is passionate about bringing servant leadership to the workplace to help others thrive. 

Originally from Oregon, Shiloh graduated Summa Cum Laude from Rutgers University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Labor and Employment Relations and a Certificate in Workplace Diversity. Shiloh is also a decorated Combat Veteran who retired from the U.S. Army in 2015. Shiloh is fond of sports, paddle-boarding, hiking, and spending time with his family.

Interested in becoming part of our community of practitioners, organizations, and everyday advocates transforming the building industry through the holistic lens of climate, health, and equity?

ILFI is proudly showcasing a series of member impact stories to celebrate the inspiring work our community does everyday. This month we’re delighted to feature the work of Gladys Ly-Au Young, Partner and co-founder of Sundberg Kennedy Ly-Au Young Architects. 

No one pays for the work of connection. Tying in perspectives and knowledge from sectors like social justice is often outside of the scope of work of architects. Gladys Ly-Au Young is committed to changing that: her work recognizes the impact of investing in those connections, representing a unique contribution to architecture and design. She is an advocate for investing in the long-term wellness of people and the planet, and is a global thought leader, educator, and advocate for healthy building materials. 

The firm Gladys co-founded, Sundberg Kennedy Ly-Au Young (SKL) Architects, is in the business of socially responsible architecture: creating spaces for learning, living, and community. Their work centers the end user—the residents whose livelihood is subject to impact, and whose chief concern is their community’s health and well-being.

U-lex, previously known as Othello Square, is a co-op home ownership project located in South Seattle and one example of SKL’s commitment to the end user. Comprised of four buildings and sixty-eight units, U-lex has shown affordable housing can do more to address societal inequities.

“The project is rooted in anti-displacement,” Gladys says, noting that the predominantly immigrant community of color in the surrounding area had long worried about being pushed out as Seattle’s housing prices rose. The development of U-lex was ultimately one by the community, for the community, and the direct result of 20 years of organizing by residents.

Caption: Graphic depicting U-lex energy efficiency, courtesy of SKL Architects.

SKL and the project’s non-profit developer, HomeSight, wanted the project to be more than just energy efficient for the benefit of its community. Although they were able to achieve a lot in energy, and the project complied with the Living Building Equity and Health + Happiness Petals, they also became focused on material health: another threat to residents’ well-being that disproportionately impacts vulnerable populations. Exposure to unsafe chemicals tends to affect residents in lower-wealth areas like U-lex through their housing, but also through their community in the form of air quality and environmental pollution. 

It’s worth noting that SKL provided this critical materials work for U-lex pro bono. We need to recognize the burden felt by communities when we underinvest in equitable solutions, and must change our practices to positively impact the health of people and the planet.

“[With] supply chains… many are ‘business as usual’ until enough people start questioning it,” says Gladys. She and her team worked with ILFI to source Red List-free materials for U-lex through the Affordable Housing Program. Gladys also worked with the Housing Development Consortium and Toxic Free Future in Seattle to develop tools for other affordable housing project teams to use for specifying healthy materials based on her experience on U-lex.

“Gladys has been an amazing partner for ILFI. Her commitment to healthy materials in affordable housing combined with in-depth research and creative sourcing strategies have significantly contributed to ILFI resources (such as the Affordable Housing Materials List and Best Practices Guide for Red List Free Affordable Housing). Her work is influencing not just the U-lex project, but many current and future projects to provide healthier environments for residents and the community.” – Susan Puri, Director of Affordable Housing at ILFI

Being a member of the Living Future community has ultimately supported Gladys’ connection-building work: “[Membership] is a powerful connector of like-minded leaders seeking to make global change… a forum where leaders can support each other, connect, and collaborate.” 

The broader vision of Gladys’ leadership is cultivating this deep connection, growing her firm and team in line with ILFI’s Just label values, building partnerships to creatively design and fund healthy, culturally-responsive buildings, and using the built environment to support our collective well-being. “This is the work I will do for the rest of my career.”

ILFI recently released a new resource for Affordable Housing projects looking to source Red List free building products. Explore more on our website.

Interested in becoming part of our community of practitioners, organizations, and everyday advocates transforming the building industry through the holistic lens of climate, health, and equity?

By Natalie Hickerson

ILFI is proudly presenting a series of member impact stories to showcase and celebrate some of the wonderful work our community has been doing. This week we are featuring Dee Schlotter, owner of a color and marketing consulting business and former media spokesperson for PPG Industries.

When it comes to design, few elements can impact the success of a final product quite like color. Far more than just embellishment, color is a universal language that can be used to create atmosphere, direct focus in a space, and cater to different moods and energy levels. Dee Schlotter has become an expert in the unique subject of color and has had an impressive career studying, predicting, and analyzing what causes colors to rise and fall in popularity.

Before starting her own consulting business, Dee spent 29 years working in color forecasting for PPG, a global paint and coating supplier. During this time, she did extensive and fascinating research in architectural color trends. Dee explains that the purpose of a building should inform the colors chosen for its design. A study she helped conduct for the Department of Corrections in Connecticut, for example, concluded that prisoners generally hated sameness of color, and preferred both variation and natural colors. For those stuck in the same building all the time, such as incarcerated people, pops of color interest the eye and offer something to focus on. Natural blues and greens in common areas also help create comfort, as for most people our earliest childhood memories are associated with nature.

Dee reports similar findings in other long-term living facilities such as hospitals: “in a study of a children’s hospital, they weren’t wanting carnival colors, like bright yellows and pinks that you might expect. They wanted natural colors, because they wanted to be outside”. Meanwhile, it was quite the opposite for homes, with simple whites and grays dominating the market. These colors symbolize silence and provide an uninterrupted, blank background. “For residential, that makes sense,” Dee explains, “because we are stimulated all day long with our computers and phones and everything that we just want a place of respite.”

It was through her research on color that Dee first got acquainted with biophilic design. Every year, she worked with PPG to identify a “color of the year” based on current trends. Societal events and feelings impact which colors spike in popularity – after the tragedy of 9/11, for instance, colors with warm and compassionate connotations such as soft pinks and chocolate browns quickly popped up in fashion and home design. The 2018 color of the year was a deep green associated with the rise of biophilia, and it is through this trend that Dee became familiar with ILFI.

Of her many sustainability projects, one of the most notable was her work with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, celebrated for its use of biophilic elements years before the term was coined. Dee produced an in-depth presentation entitled “The Colors of Fallingwater” that explored the role of nature and human senses in the color choices for the project.

In the future, Dee hopes to continue working with color in relation to sustainable and biophilic design. She notes the importance of sourcing colors sustainably moving forward, applauding companies like Material Bank for their commitment to eliminating waste in processes such as sending out paint and tiles samples. We’re looking forward to seeing how Dee brightens future projects with her colorful work.

About Dee Schlotter

Pronouns:  she/her

After almost three decades at PPG, Dee Schlotter retired at the end of 2020 to start her own consulting business in color, marketing and biophilic design for the architectural segment.  At PPG, Dee worked in technical service and product marketing bringing zero-VOC, environmentally-preferred products to market.  Her longest, most-loved career span with PPG was in Color.   Dee initiated the global color workshop to identify color trends across architectural, automotive, and consumer products.  The forecasting research resulted in filters by lifestyle, demographic and geographic color directions for architects, designers, builders and owners in the hospitality, office, health care, education and residential markets.   Dee was PPG’s media spokesperson for more than 12 years bringing color of the year to life.  It was during the 2018 color of the year influencer research and attending a presentation by Amanda Sturgeon that she fell in love with biophilia and knew she wanted to study it.  Dee is currently taking the Biophilia Design Certificate to add it to her color specifications and design projects.  

Dee lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, son and dog.  She teaches yoga and loves to hike and bike in forests, national and urban parks.  She is an active volunteer in community development projects, including affordable housing, and a goat herder with the landscaping company, Allegheny Goatscape.

Interested in becoming part of our community of practitioners, organizations, and everyday advocates transforming the building industry through the holistic lens of climate, health, and equity?

By Natalie Hickerson

For the past five years, Cynthia Gentry has been using biophilic design principles to meet the developmental needs of children by building nature-based play environments. These “living playgrounds” provide spaces for kids to safely explore and interact with nature, which Cynthia explains is crucial for the growth of a healthy and happy child.

Even before her work on living playgrounds, Cynthia has long been an advocate for both nature-inspired building and a child’s right to play. Upon leaving her previous career of almost two decades working with international consulting firms, she began creating rainforest murals for inner city hospitals in Atlanta and started her first nonprofit, Art Heals. She later founded Play Atlanta, an organization dedicated to advocating for and educating about the child’s right to play. Since 2010, she has served on the executive board of the International Play Association (IPA) which advocates for children’s access to free play as a fundamental human right.

Today, Cynthia’s impressive and diverse work in the pursuit of a healthier and more playful world for children continues with Living Playgrounds. One accomplishment that exemplifies the value and potential of this work is the play space at the YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta Headquarters, a project Cynthia describes as one of the peak experiences of her life. The finished playground is brimming with implementations of biophilic design philosophy. Natural light shines into the sandbox through leaf and butterfly-shaped cutouts on the ceiling. Green vines weave up tunnel walls and bright flowers create living roofs. The wood used for the play structures is sourced from trees native to the Georgia mountains. When the play space finally opened, Cynthia recalls that the adults who worked there were “just as excited as the children themselves”- a testament to the inspirational power that nature-based design can have.

As a firm believer in a future of harmony between humanity and nature, Cynthia feels there is a lot to gain from working with ILFI. She is pursuing her LFA and plans to use what she learns to inform her evaluation of which sustainable manufacturers she chooses for her projects. Of the ILFI community, Cynthia says, “I’m excited that there are people out there that understand this, and I have so much to learn from them.”  We are proud to have Cynthia as a member here at ILFI and are excited to follow her work in the future. 

Check out Living Playgrounds to see more of Cynthia’s projects.

About Cynthia Gentry

For over twenty years, Atlanta-based Cynthia Gentry has used her many creative interests to help make the world a better place for children. Her passionate belief in the power of play to help all children blossom artistically, intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically has led to her intense focus on designing biophilic play spaces for children through her design/build company, Living Playgrounds LLC. Cynthia is in her third term on the Executive Board of the International Play Association (IPAworld.org) where she is also the Editor of PlayRights Magazine.

Cynthia recently worked on the Access to Play in Crisis project which has recently been translated into Ukrainian, Romanian, and Hungarian.  A video Cynthia made to show at the UN in Geneva to celebrate IPA’s work on the General Comment (#17) on article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is still actively shared around the world. Recent projects include curating an exhibit on play at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) and designing a natural learning playground for the new YMCA headquarters in downtown Atlanta. This space will be used as a prototype for Head Start early learning play environments throughout the United States.

Cynthia lives in Atlanta with her husband Al Dale, a retired two-time Emmy Award-winning correspondent from ABC World News Tonight. She is the devoted grandmother to five unusually brilliant and talented children.

Interested in becoming part of our community of practitioners, organizations, and everyday advocates transforming the building industry through the holistic lens of climate, health, and equity?

It’s the holiday season! We’ve made it to that time of year when we remember what’s important (cookies, latkes, and socially-distanced, safe quality time with loved ones) while thoughts of gift-giving occupy our every waking moment. What do you get the person who has everything? Where can I buy ethically-made gifts? What gift says “thanks for all your hard work keeping the company afloat while we survived a global pandemic”?

I present you with an idea to tackle this year’s gift-giving quandary: give the gift of Living Future Membership. This gift allows you to give a sense of community during a year of distance and disconnectedness, a year’s worth of intangible benefits, and pride in the climate work you’re both supporting.

Current Living Future Members: check out your Member Dashboard for a special 10% off discount code to share with friends + colleagues. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me: membership@living-future.org. 

Cheers to an ecologically restorative & socially just living future.

With gratitude,

Liz Harder

Membership Manager

Want to learn more about LBC 4.0? Check out our 4.0 workshops happening across the country this summer + fall!

Updated standard earns pilot commitments from Google, King County and others

May 2, 2019 (SEATTLE) – The International Living Future Institute announced today the release of Living Building Challenge 4.0 (LBC 4.0), which meets demand from the marketplace for increased scale and accessibility. Google and King County committed to test the new standard in their construction, among others.

“This new generation of the Living Building Challenge is streamlined, directing 80% of the effort into 80% of the impact,” said Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the International Living Future Institute. “We heard consistent feedback from the first 100 certified projects, and the next 100 on drawing boards, which we incorporated into LBC 4.0,” she added.

Updates include the inclusion of ten new core imperatives which all projects (Petal or Living) need to achieve. These imperatives require 10 best practices critical to any green building, an increased focus on embodied carbon, and a revision to the Materials Red List, to avoid regrettable substitutions. In addition, these 10 core imperatives on their own make up the new Core Green Building Certification program, also announced today.

LBC 4.0 was released alongside new commitments from some of the world’s leading organizations: Google, PCC Markets, King County, Community Rebuilds and the BLOCK Project.

“When we align with a third-party certification system, it is important to us that it provides aspirational leadership that resonates with Google’s values of health, sustainability, and community. The Living Building Challenge has been a great partner in guiding our real estate portfolio to ensure better spaces for our team members and better buildings for the environment,” said Mary Davidge, Director of Campus Design at Google. “We are committed to the health of our employees and are excited to partner with the Institute to help advance sustainable design across the industry,” she added.

“Zero and Living Buildings are game-changers for our environment and our customers,” said Dow Constantine, King County Executive. “Just two weeks ago we certified our first Net Zero Energy building, and we are on track to complete ten more of these projects in the next few years. We are showing that dramatically reducing our energy and water use is not only feasible, but beneficial for our environment, county residents, and bottom line,” added Constantine.

Also announced today is the Institute’s new Volume Certification program for organizations looking to scale LBC 4.0 across their real estate portfolios in a streamlined fashion. For organizations with multiple projects, Volume Certification offers an opportunity to address environmental impact while reducing the cost and complexity of certification.

The Institute is also offering the Volume program for Zero Energy and Zero Carbon certification for organizations to address energy and carbon efficiently and systematically. Demonstrating leadership in climate change reduction, Salesforce and Kingspan announced significant commitments to the Zero Carbon Volume Certification program.

Salesforce has committed to certification of its new, major worldwide commercial office portfolio, including its Salesforce Tower in San Francisco and signature properties that are planned across North America, Europe and Asia. Kingspan has committed to certifying its portfolio of manufacturing facilities in Europe and North America.

LBC 4.0 was released at the Living Future unConference, an event that brings together 1,300+ leaders focused on regenerative design in products, buildings and communities. As the threat of climate change increases, now more than ever we need a compelling vision of the future to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The Living Building Challenge represents that vision and re-defines what good looks like.

About the Living Building Challenge (LBC)

The Living Building Challenge is the world’s most ambitious performance standard for buildings. People from around the world use the LBC regenerative design framework to create spaces that, like a flower, give more than they take. For more information visit www.living-future.org/lbc.

About the International Living Future Institute (ILFI)
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/.

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“We’re not on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves. But in doing that you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes.”  ― Joseph Campbell

The work we do at the Living Future Institute is not accomplished in a vacuum, easily, or alone. The tireless community of sustainability experts, advocates, and volunteers who stand beside us in the pursuit of ecological restoration span 70 countries, an array of industries, and a multitude of sectors. They represent the inspiring leadership that leads to sea changes in sustainable design and, ultimately, to the vitalized pursuit of drastic structural climate action.

Our members are ambassadors, builders, and industry movers-and-shakers. They and their work highlight real leadership that will move us toward a Living Future. Today we’re highlighting a few of those members, and their efforts that are leaving a lasting ecological impact–their handprint.

Avideh Haghighi, ZGF Architects

Avideh, a licensed architect who has worked on projects from schools and hospitality to mixed-use housing, steers our Living Building Challenge Los Angeles collaborative and leads the creation of sustainable and regenerative buildings in California. She’s currently building the largest Net Zero Energy building in Southern California, strategically adapting a high energy program to achieve a zero energy goal.

When asked what inspires her about the handprint our community is leaving, Avideh thoughtfully noted that “people I’ve met through ILFI have not only re-defined ‘sustainability’ but have set new precedents for the entire [green] building industry to follow.  ILFI’s programs shift the conversation from ‘doom and gloom’ to ‘potential’, which is pretty powerful.”

Blair S. Kershaw, Strategic Serendipity LLC

Blair left the 2018 Living Future unConference inspired by her professional hero, Bill Reed of Regenesis Group, with a nagging question at the forefront of her mind: how can we—as individuals & project teams seeking to change the world—regenerate the world around us without first regenerating our communities, beginning with the self?

Blair uniquely affects positive change through her focus on this question. Her handprinting energy efficiency work spans audits and management at Strategic Serendipity (the consulting business she owns and runs), education through adjunct teaching at Boston Architectural College, activism in her local community, and human-centered regeneration consulting.

While pushing the envelope towards regenerative systems and sustainability in the built environment, Blair also works to meet people where they are–offering iterative positive changes to help one person (and one building) at a time. Blair has achieved this by expanding her focus from energy management, education, and activism to the duality of energy, offering expertise on the regeneration of people through modalities like mindfulness, yoga, and Reiki.

Brad Liljequist, McKinstry

Brad is a renowned Zero Energy wiz, Program Manager at McKinstry and the author of The Power of Zero: Learning From the World’s Leading Net Zero Energy Buildings. Previously serving as the Institute’s Zero Energy Director, Brad has committed his life to the transition toward an efficient society powered by renewables. Within this movement of dreamers and doers and their collective handprints, Brad notes that we’ll “see yesterday’s dreams as today’s reality.”

Angelica Ciranni, Pittsburgh 2030 District + Green Building Alliance

Angelica Ciranni: Director of Pittsburgh’s 2030 District, GreenBiz 30 under 30 winner, and rockstar advocate of the Institute and its work. Angelica leaves her handprint by “reimagining buildings as spaces of transformation, capable of positively impacting not only their users but also the ecosystem which supports them.”

Andrew Lee, International Living Future Institute

Last but certainly not least, Andy is the Institute’s current Zero Energy Director, sustainable infrastructure nerd, and longtime volunteer with ILFI. His outlook is simple; promote sustainability programs that are simple and elegant, like Zero Carbon, and consumer trends and the greater market will follow.

Our regenerative programs inspire him because their impacts are simple to quantify, and yet have enormous potential. Buildings which choose to certify with our programs serve as a mechanism to affect the grid more broadly and create a direct demand for clean energy. If that’s not leaving your handprint, we’re not sure what is.

Andy oversees our Zero Carbon and Zero Energy certifications at the Institute. If you are interested in registering a project with either program, feel free to drop him a line.

The influence of a vital person vitalizes. More than simply the financial resources, expertise, and industry connections they bring, the Institute’s network of members provides the vitality that we’ll need to radically shift the world to a truly ecologically restorative and regenerative future. Share your vitality today.