ILFI is excited to announce that online courses are open for enrollment! Living Future Education is your go-to source for education on the Living Building Challenge, Living Product Challenge, Living Community Challenge, and all other ILFI programs, transparency labels, and initiatives. 

Interested in achieving net positive water on your next project? There’s a course for that. Want to learn more about Declare and healthy materials? There’s a course for that, too. Or, are you simply looking to gain a better understanding of regenerative design principles and deepen your expertise? There are many courses for that!

“I love being an early adopter and pushing the boundaries of possibilities for change in our global cultures, diverse as they are, plus driving change in the communities in which I live and have a vested interest as an engaged citizen.” –Living Future Education online learner

All of the courses are available on-demand, which means you can take them whenever you want from wherever you are. The new system offers a much-improved user experience, making it easier for you to find relevant courses for each of ILFI’s programs and keep track of your online course achievements and credits towards earning Living Future Accreditation (LFA). LFA distinguishes leaders in the regenerative design community.

“I wish to showcase the knowledge and expertise that I’ve garnered during my time as a contractor and sustainability advocate. In addition to building my professional repertoire, I wish to help others in their quest to build sustainable projects by acting as a qualified resource.” –Aspiring LFA professional

Earning your LFA also makes you eligible to deepen your involvement with ILFI through Network volunteer opportunities as well as fulfill the LFA professional team member requirement for LBC 4.0.

Ready to start learning? ILFI Members receive a 10% discount on course enrollments with their special member coupon code. Join today! Sponsors of ILFI also receive special education benefits.

Browse our catalog and check out our top 5 picks for online education this quarter (all approved for LFA + AIA credits), below. If you have the opportunity, join us in Nashville this week at the Living Product Expo to continue learning and engaging deeply about these topics.

  1. Living Products: Three Case Studies of Regenerative Design*
    1. The Living Product Challenge was launched with a bold vision: Design a beautiful, healthy product that makes the world a better place through its very creation. In this course, you’ll hear how three inspirational companies (Mohawk Group, Humanscale, and Bureo) are leveraging the LPC framework to upend the current manufacturing paradigm, demonstrating that regenerative products are possible.
  2. Achieving Healthy Materials*
    1. Learn how to strategically research, specify, and document products to achieve the Living Building Challenge Materials Petal. This course reviews best practices for selecting healthy products, prioritizing ecologically restorative products, and creating spaces that have a positive impact on the human and natural systems with which we interact.
  3. Introduction to the Living Product Challenge*
    1. This course will help you understand the business case for manufacturing Living Products, which build soil, create habitat, nourish the human spirit, and provide inspiration for personal, political and economic change. The course also describes how to help consumers make quick and informed decisions about sustainable product selection.
  4. Materials Vetting for Affordable Housing
    1. This course walks through team member roles, prioritization, and steps for vetting products for Red List, FSC, and Living Economy Sourcing compliance. The course demonstrates how to identify CAS registry numbers on the Red List and provides examples of acceptable product documentation. Additionally, the course shows how to access and use the Declare and Mindful Materials databases to find and vet materials.
  5. Taking Flight: Declare to LPC*
    1. Learn how to leverage the important work you’ve done in transparency and material health with Declare to achieve the Living Product Challenge, the most advanced product sustainability standard in the world. If you have a Declare label and are considering evaluating the life cycle of your products, you’re already on your way to certifying one of the world’s first Living Products.

*Denotes courses contained within the LFA Foundational Curriculum, completion of which is required (along with 16 General LFA CE credits) to achieve Living Future Accreditation.

Happy learning!

Written By

Alaïa Giglio

Alaïa works on the Engagement Team, with a focus on Education. She supports delivery of both in-person educational events and on-demand/online education, develops new educational content, and administers the Living Future Accreditation program. More broadly, she also works with our network of Living Future Ambassadors, ILFI Collaboratives, and international affiliates. Originally from southwest Florida, Alaïa graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in biology from Reed College. Her senior thesis analyzed the sustainability of the Columbia River Basin Chinook salmon fishery using Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines and concluded with recommendations for management. The thesis used this fishery system as an illustrative case study to examine the power of marketing certifications to drive consumer-fueled change in environmental policy—and on that note, Alaïa fully believes in the transformative impact of the Living Future Challenge programs and transparency labels to create communities that are socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. When not at ILFI, she enjoys spending time in the PNW outdoors running, randonneuring, surfing, and foraging. Indoors, Alaïa maintains her contemporary calligraphy studio, creating wedding stationery and branding collateral for small businesses and teaching workshops.