The International Living Future Institute is thrilled to celebrate the recent achievements from our Living Future Members in constructing buildings and communities, manufacturing products, and leading organizations that move us towards a future that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. Here are the milestones that have been accomplished so far in 2021!
Use the links below to jump to a section in this article.
Living Building Challenge
Living Certification
Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design – Atlanta, GA, USA
The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design is the first in the state of Georgia to achieve Living Certification. It is a multi-disciplinary education building located within the Georgia Tech campus. The building serves as a fully functional, working model of sustainable principles for a variety of audiences to access, study, and replicate.
Loom House – Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
The Loom House is the first renovation of a single-family home to achieve Living Certification. It is also the fourth single-family residence anywhere in the world to achieve Living Certification and the first to do so under version 4.0 of the Living Building Challenge.
Petal Certification
Burwood Brickworks – Melbourne, VIC, Australia
The Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre is a large, mixed-use urban retail development that achieved Petal Certification, including the Place, Health + Happiness, Materials, Equity, and Beauty Petals. When asked why the team decided to pursue certification, they shared that they wanted to prove it was possible to develop an “ordinary” retail centre for “ordinary” people, in an extraordinary way.
Cope Environmental Center – Centerville, IN, USA
The Cope Environmental Center is the first project in Indiana to achieve Petal Certification, accomplishing the impressive feat of meeting six of the seven Petals, all but Materials. Persevering through regulatory barriers on their Water strategy, the project uses non-potable water for toilet flushing.
The Green Point Project – Cowichan Bay, BC, Canada
This truly unique single-family home is the 4th to achieve Petal Certification in British Columbia. By utilizing an on-site well for water supply, and grey and blackwater systems for water treatment, this project has accomplished the impressive feat of achieving the Water Petal, along with Place and Beauty.
Mesquite House – San Antonio, TX, USA
Mesquite House is a single-family home that achieved the Place, Energy, Equity, and Beauty Petals. Located in a designated historic district, the project is designed to belong in the district while highlighting the modern strategies used to meet the Energy Petal requirements, including an 11.16 kW solar array with 36 panels.
The Monarch School – Houston, TX, USA
The Monarch School serves as an environmental stewardship and educational tool to engage students and the larger Houston community, providing therapeutic education to individuals with neurological differences. Achieving the Materials, Equity, and Beauty Petals, the studio is the first Petal Certification within the state of Texas, and the first ILFI Certification in the city of Houston.
MSR Design New Office – Minneapolis, MN, USA
MSR Design’s New Office in Minneapolis achieved the Materials, Equity, and Beauty Petals. MSR Design decided that Petal Certification was an excellent fit for their project since it aligned with their firm’s strategic goal of being a leading firm that achieves generative impacts across the board on all of their projects.
Sonoma Academy – Santa Rosa, CA, USA
The Sonoma Academy Maker and Grange Studios is a learning facility with maker spaces, a cooking lab, a cafeteria, and indoor & outdoor classrooms. The project has achieved the Energy, Materials, Equity, and Beauty Petals, as well as Zero Carbon Certification. The school students were interested in an authentic project that told a story that was relevant to their region.
Zero Carbon Certification
Civitas | archimania – Memphis, TN, USA
Civitas is a 3,000SF single-family home which is the second project to achieve Zero Carbon certification and the first to achieve dual certification with Zero Energy. The architect worked closely with the team and their family to prioritize health and sustainability through modern design that valued transparency, efficiency, and resiliency.
Sonoma Academy – Santa Rosa, CA, USA
Also achieved Petal Certification — See above for more info about the project.
Zero Energy Certification
Adlai Stevenson High School East Addition – Lincolnshire, IL, USA
A Zero Energy Certified 54,000SF addition was built for Adlai Stevenson High School in order to cater to their expanding student body and diversifying educational needs. This new facility comprises classrooms, maker labs, and multi-purpose presentation spaces, in addition to physics and engineering labs. There is also roof space for teaching opportunities surrounding their greenhouse and gardens onsite.
Civitas | archimania – Memphis, TN, USA
Also achieved Zero Carbon Certification — See above for more info about the project.
North Coastal Live Well Center – Oceanside, CA, USA
The three-story, 36,000SF North Coastal Live Well Center serves as a space for facility houses aging and independence services, a military and veterans resource center, community health promotions, regional administration, public health and behavioral health services. In order to support an enhanced quality of life for its occupants, this building values healthy, high-performing spaces that fits in with its natural surroundings.
Electrical Training Institute – Los Angeles, CA, USA
This 144,000SF training center achieved a net-zero energy profile by improving the performance of the building by 40% and installing on-site arrays on their roof and parking lot. The project took advantage of a utility microgrid and piloted smart battery technology to address peak load demand. Over 6,000 electrical workers and contractors are trained annually at this facility, so it is only fitting that they are given hands-on experience in a best-in-class building.
Ready Recognition
In response to feedback from our project teams, we’ve established the Ready designation, where a 3rd-party auditor reviews all non-performance project documentation as well as modeled performance data at the end of the construction phase. This pre-certification audit confirms that projects are on the path towards certification and helps teams feel confident before they begin their performance period. Two projects have achieved Ready designation so far in 2021:
City Services Building – Santa Monica, CA, USA – LBC Living Ready
Marisol Lot 17 – Malibu, CA, USA – Zero Carbon Ready
Living Community Challenge
As Living Community Challenge projects are more complex and take a long time to move from idea to reality, we acknowledge four milestones: Vision Plan Compliance, Master Plan Compliance, Emerging Community Status, and finally Certification at the Zero Energy, Petal or Living level. So far this year, we celebrate two project achievements:
Vision Plan Compliance
Sacramento Valley Station – Sacramento, CA, USA
As our first municipal project achieving LCC Vision Plan Compliance, Sacramento Valley Station is genuinely leading the way. Consisting of 23 acres of city-owned land in an urban setting, the project serves as a regional transportation hub with rail and bus routes that serve populations far and wide.
Master Plan Compliance
Reserva Santa Fe – Mexico
Located on 663 acres of land in the mountains between Mexico City and Toluca, Reserva Santa Fe is the largest project to receive LCC Master Plan Compliance, and the third project to reach this milestone. With a goal of transforming the paradigm of real estate in Mexico, Reserva Santa Fe aims to create a sustainable, regenerative, and inclusive community.
Just Organizations
So far this year, 34 organizations have received a Just label under version 2.0. There are now 127 active labels accessible on the Just database, and many more are in progress. Here are the organizations that recently received a new or updated label (please note that some database entries are in development and will be active soon):
- Architectural Resources Cambridge / ARC
- Ayers Saint Gross
- BCCI Construction LLC
- BranchPattern, Inc.
- CallisonRTKL Inc.
- David Baker Architects
- Deborah Berke Partners
- Dillon Kyle Architects
- E2 Solar Inc.
- Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects
- Graham Construction Company
- GreeNexus Consulting, LLC
- Group14 Engineering, PBC
- Guttmann & Blaevoet
- Habitech – Distretto Tecnologico Trentino Scarl
- Herrera Environmental Consultants
- Holst Architecture
- Integral Global
- Kubala Washatko Architects
- LHTDesign Limited
- Lord Aeck Sargent
- LPA, Inc.
- LRS Architects, Inc.
- Mahlum
- MCG Explore Design
- McKinney York Architect
- Noll & Tam Architects
- O’Brien360
- Pure Architects
- SRG Partnership, Inc.
- Steinberg Hart
- Studio 111 Architecture
- VEIC
- Woonerf
Declare Labels
The Declare database continues to grow with 886 active labels, which includes 95 new labels that were added so far this year from the following manufacturers:
- Advance Flooring Systems (3)
- AHF, LLC (4)
- Allegion (1)
- Arcoplast, Inc. (1)
- Aristech Surfaces LLC (1)
- Arktura, LLC. (1)
- Armadillo & Co (13)
- Armstrong World Industries – Ceiling & Wall Solutions (2)
- Aspecta N.A. (2)
- ASSA ABLOY Australia (1)
- Boss Design Limited (2)
- Congoleum (1)
- Corticeira Amorim (4)
- Dorken Systems, Inc. (1)
- ECOHouse (1)
- Element5 Co. (2)
- FACT Design (1)
- Frasch (1)
- Gruppo Concorde S.p.A. (5)
- Herman Miller Group (1)
- Humanscale (10)
- Interflex (1)
- Knauf GmbH Sucursal España (2)
- Knauf Insulation, Inc. (2)
- Lititz Flooring Company (1)
- Longboard Products (1)
- Luxes (1)
- Metro Performance Glass (1)
- Metroflor Corporation (1)
- Middle Earth Tiles Limited (1)
- Moll bauoekologische Produkte GmbH (1)
- Muraflex (1)
- Northern Facades Ltd. (1)
- Pacific Coil Coaters (2)
- pba S.p.a. (2)
- Philadelphia Commercial (1)
- Prysmian Group (1)
- Quarella (2)
- Roca (5)
- ROCKWOOL (2)
- Southwire Company LLC (1)
- Swegon (1)
- Technistone, a.s. (2)
- Tubelite, Inc. (2)
Registered Projects
Finally, we would like to celebrate the projects that have officially stepped up to pursue one of our building certifications. The following 38 projects have registered so far in 2021:
LBC Living
- Academy for Global Citizenship – Chicago, IL, USA
- Circlewood Village – Camano Island, WA, USA
- Island Grown Farm – Vineyard Haven, MA, USA
- King County Metro Bus Stop – Auburn, WA, USA
- Nexus Builds 1 – Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Nexus Builds 2 – Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Pā Reo – Ōtaki, WLG, New Zealand
- Vlahoke – Weogufka, AL, USA
- 3 confidential projects
LBC Petal
- Brown-Teal Residence at Deer Lake – Deer River, MN, USA
- Glendarrah CoHousing – Hazelbrook, NSW, New Zealand
- Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park at Rowan University – Sewell, NJ, USA
- 2 confidential projects
Core Green Building Certification
- Cape Cod Pavilion – Barnstable, MA, USA
- Environmental Education and Research Center – Kenmore, WA, USA
- FSi Engineers Seattle Office – Seattle, WA, USA
- Lovettsville – Lovettsville, VA, USA
- Muhlenberg College Parkway Community Building – Allentown, PA, USA
- Paremata Apartments – Porirua, WLG, New Zealand
- Swarthmore College Martin Building Renovation & Addition – Swarthmore, PA, USA
- Unison Networks Windsor Substation – Hastings, Hawke’s Bay, NZ
- Yee Chain International Co., Ltd. Headquarters – Taichung City, Taiwan
Zero Carbon
- Casa Adelante – San Francisco, CA, USA
- Kelso House – San Antonio, TX, USA
- Tree Haus – Wilson, WY, USA
- 4 confidential projects
Zero Energy
- Ardor Wood Farm – Red Rock, TX, USA
- City of Berkeley’s Adult Mental Health Clinic – Berkeley, CA, USA
- Lakeside Branch Library – Lakeside, CA, USA
- MC2 HQ Building – Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Navigate Office Center – St. Louis, MO, USA
- Stead Park Community Center – Washington, DC, USA
We would like to give a big round of applause to all of these milestones and achievements!
If you are interested in pursuing a label or certification, we are happy to assist you. Schedule a time with ILFI’s Sales team to review the registration process: https://living-future.org/connections/.
Cover image: Cope Environmental Center, a Petal certified building. Photo courtesy of Cope Environmental Center
