Posts Tagged ‘Living Building Challenge’

As a New Yorker, I have spent the majority of my life following the city’s pulse, and growing in the shadow of its skyscrapers and trees. I know the energy and physical spaces of New York City intimately and I’m familiar with its exhilarating and test-to-the-soul challenges. Despite the lack of nature and competitive environment, I am not the only…

On Friday, October 7th, Mayor Ed Murray signed legislation to continue the Living Building Pilot Program until 2025. The updated Living Building program legislation expands on a pilot program started in 2009 and increases the number of buildings that can participate to 20. There are new provisions and adjustments in the legislation that align better with city and state laws, as…

Casa SN House (the initial letters of the two owners Sara and Nicola Berlanda) is Italy’s first Living Building Challenge registered project.  The home will be built in Trento, Italy close to the gorgeous Lake Garda. The site was a former greenhouse, and thus the owners will demolish the current structure and work to remediate the land (concrete basements, small…

Since opening in late 2014, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) Brock Environmental Center in Virginia Beach has greatly exceeded expectations. The Brock Center received its Living Building Challenge certification in May of this year, and it is the first commercial building in the continental United States permitted to capture and treat rainfall for use as drinking water. With solar panels,…

Growing up in the beautiful twin isle of Trinidad and Tobago was truly a blessing. The country has an abundance of natural resources: sun, sea, sand, trees and thriving ecosystems, but we continue to lack one thing—a shared vision for positive change. After a career of 10 years in engineering, construction and project management, I felt a deep desire for…

Living Building Challenge 3.1 is the latest release of the LBC Standard. This version is a tweak to the 3.0 iteration, which had major updates and was released in 2014. The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is based on idealized but realistic goals. As a result, LBC projects are among the most efficient, highest-performing and healthiest buildings in the world. The…

For both manufacturers and designers, the Declare program provides a clear, elegant and informative method for ingredient disclosure. Declare stands by transparent and open communication and with our new database, we’re allowing consumers and designers a more streamlined point of entry into the world’s most groundbreaking products. Andrea Cooper, Declare program Manager, discusses the benefits of this new platform and…

Extraordinary Projects Meet the Built Environment’s Most Rigorous Performance Standard (May 12, 2016, Seattle, Wash). — The International Living Future Institute today announced three newly certified Living Buildings, bringing the total number of buildings achieving the world’s most rigorous green buildings program to 11. Additionally, nine new projects have been certified Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB). Today’s certification brings the…

Since 2006, the Living Building Challenge has inspired significant change in how buildings are designed, built, rehabbed and operated. In addition to the projects that have been certified under the Challenge, there are more than 200 projects in the works around the world demonstrating possibilities for the built environment. These successes are the result of tireless efforts made by individuals…

The Dixon Water Foundation promotes healthy watersheds through sustainable land management to ensure that present and future generations of Texans have the water resources they need. To this end, the Foundation demonstrates environmentally and ecologically sound ranching practices on its four properties in north and west Texas, in addition to funding grants, hosting educational events, and partnering with researchers. As…

The Old Oak Dojo is a small, privately owned ancillary building, built next to a multi-family residence. It resides on a wooded lot in a dense urban neighborhood of Boston. The multipurpose studio space is available for educational gatherings and performances, and serves as a community space where neighbors can congregate to create healthy and resilient communities. The project functions…

With the Davie & Andrews Branch in Ft. Lauderdale, PNC sets a new industry benchmark for high-performance retail bank branch design by achieving net zero energy. This project represented an evolution of PNC’s Green Branch® prototype which was the first design to receive LEED Volume Certification and which led PNC to build more newly-constructed LEED certified buildings than any other…

In the past few decades, nearly every large company has adopted the word “sustainability” into its organizational vernacular. The rise in popularity of sustainable practices is in part a business trend but is also a reaction from business and government to assuage human impact on the environment. As a whole, sustainable practices have largely produced incremental positive change toward preserving…

International Living Future Institute Founder and Chairman Jason F. McLennan received a distinguished Award of Excellence from Engineering News Record (ENR) at a ceremony in New York City on April 7, 2016. “The award is truly an honor,” said McLennan. “I’m both humbled and energized to receive it, humbled when I look at those who have received this honor before…

PRESS RELEASE “We’re Catalyzing a Materials Revolution” says ILFI’s James Connelly (Washington, DC, and Seattle) On April 4, 2016, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that the Living Future Institute’s Declare label is now an approved pathway for Option 1 of the Building Product Optimization and Disclosure, Material Ingredients credit for LEED v4. Declare labels with ingredient disclosure greater…

The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation (ICECF), with the help of the International Living Future Institute, has launched a Net Zero Energy Building Program full of great incentives to help projects realize their potential in high performance buildings. The Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) Certification Program at ILFI is the only performance-based certification for buildings of its type. Utilizing Living…