Content area
Full Text
Why it matters
The International Living Future Institute's Living Building Challenge is a green building rating system that provides a framework for the design, construction, and relationship between people and the built environment. While similar in many ways to the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, the Living Building Challenge goes beyond LEED. Certification is based on actual performance, including the ability of a project to achieve up to 20 imperatives, such as net-zero energy.
History
In the mid-1990s, a team of designers embarked upon implementation of some of the most advanced sustainable design theories available. These designers documented their successes, challenges, and environmental implications through various matrixes, articles, and what would later become version 1.0 of the Living Building Challenge. In 2006, the Living Building Challenge was publically launched, and through its staff and member participants, the International Living Future Institute was formed to provide ongoing oversight and updates to the Living Building Challenge. To date, eight projects have been certified as Living Buildings and 140 projects across the globe are registered and working toward certification.
Structure
The versatility of the Living Building Challenge encourages application across four distinct typologies: Renovations, Landscape or Infrastructure, Buildings, and Neighborhoods. Additionally, each project is categorized in one of six Living Transects encompassing degrees of rural-to-urban categorization. These Living Transects include: Natural Habitat Preserve, Rural Agricultural Zone, Village or Campus Zone, General Urban Zone, Urban Center Zone, and Urban Core Zone. Requirements vary, based on the density of the development, walkability, surface parking, and other factors.
Currently in version 2.1, the Living Building Challenge includes 20 imperatives spread across seven overarching "petals!' The...