In a World Full of Sustainable Building Certifications The Living Building Challenge Fully Blooms

In a World Full of Sustainable Building Certifications The Living Building Challenge Fully Blooms

These days when considering the construction of a new building or renovation of an existing building many owners might look to what is referred to as Green Building or Sustainable Building philosophies.  These are very timely and popular considerations at a time when more interest towards energy efficiency and environmental stewardship has come into vogue.  Capitalizing on this new interest in Sustainability has spurred a variety of Green Building rating “strategies.”   Most folks in the industry are probably familiar with the concept of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) which was created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1998.  LEED is probably the most widely used green building rating system in the world.  LEED, according to the Sustainable Investment Group, focuses on two basic strategies one that “increase the efficiency of a building or site in their use of energy, water, and materials and two, reduce building impacts on human health and the environment”.  

A lesser known rating system is known as Green Globes which is an online green building rating and certification tool that is used primarily in Canada and the USA.  LEED building are found all over the world.  Green Globes was thought be a more reasonable priced certification process since expensive external consultants were not needed.  The Green Globes self-assessment is to be done in-house using a project manager and design team.  They are very similar with about an 80% overlap relative to the areas where points are awarded.  

In addition to these main green building strategies are many more and different approaches to the goal of building efficient or sustainable building.  The varieties include something called an Earthship, which is a type of passive solar house that is made of both natural and up-cycled materials such as earth-packed tires.  The Earthship concept was developed by architect Michael Reynolds.  The Earthship concept follows six basic principles:

1. Utilizes thermal/solar heating and cooling
2. Solar PV and wind turbine renewable energy onsite
3. Completely self-contained sewage system
4. Construction accomplished with repurposed and recycled materials
5. System of water harvesting in place along with storage
6. Some ability to produce food onsite

Below is an example of an Earthship designed home:

Photo courtesy of Earthship Global.

From the organization ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.) we find what is known as ASHRAE Greenguide: Design, Construction, and Operation of Sustainable Buildings, 5th Edition.  Greenguide is referred to as an add-on to LEED for buildings not a stand-alone system of certification.  With the many choices available it does crowd the playing field and might lead to some confusion.  


When considering a green building certification program and if there is a strong interest in sustainability as well, please consider the relative newcomer to this field, The Living Building Challenge (LBC).  The LBC which is part of the International Living Future Institute embraces a sustainable design framework that visualizes the ideal for the built environment.  It’s tagline is the metaphor of a flower suggesting that a building should operate as seamlessly and efficiently as a flower.  The LBC process is organized into seven performance areas called Petals. The Petals are as follows: Place, Water, Energy, Health + Happiness, Materials, Equity, and Beauty.


Each of these Petals are further sub-divided into 20 Imperatives, which focus on pertinent issues such as Net Positive Energy, Biophilic Environment, and Beauty + Spirit.  Biophilic Design is concept that points the way toward creating healthy and productive habitats for modern human beings. The LBC raises the bar in terms of caring for the environment and building an ideal place for the inhabitants within the idyllic and charismatic imperatives.  No other green rating systems strive for “beauty” or require the entity to be a “just organization.” In addition, sustainability as it is explained relative to the triple bottom line benefits shine through is this organization’s mission.   Of importance is that the LBC is much more focused on the results in lieu of the process.  The LBC relies on constant building inhabitance and actual operating results over a consecutive 12 month period before certification can be granted.  The matrix below drills much deeper into the Petals and Imperatives:

Image courtesy of the International Living Future Institute.



There are very few LEED Certified buildings that can boast of net-zero water use or net-zero energy use.  This is the life blood of every LBC project.  Since actual performance is stressed a LBC project will never succumb to the somewhat disappointing results that we find with the performance of many LEED Certified projects.  Finally, it has been noted that very little correlation between the level of LEED certification (Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum) and the actual energy use intensity of those properties.  This is never an issue with LBC projects since they will always perform as expected.  To be fair, LBC picks up where LEED finishes off; LBC is an augmentation to a LEED certified property.  It is a very stringent and highly respected level of certification that is just coming into its own.   From the website it is stated this way “The Living Building Challenge is a philosophy, advocacy platform, and certification program that promotes a very high building standard linked to net zero energy, net zero water, beauty, and more.”
 


An example of a recent Living Building Challenge 3.0 project located in Chrisney, IN is shown below:

 

Photo courtesy of Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf, architects of record. 

The project was opened in April 2009 and cost approximately $155 per square foot to build. The building produced higher than expected energy production resulting in 1,861 more kilowatt-hours than it consumed in year one.  The site boasts a geothermal heat pump system and a solar photo voltaics renewable energy system as well.  The building has served as real time demonstration and education tool by illustrating how green building designs and renewable energy could be achieved on a relatively tight budget with limited resources. The real win is due to the fact the facility has improved the human condition and it is beautiful, accessible and inspirational.

In summary, there are quite a few green building initiatives and organizations as well as philosophies that were not even mentioned to select from.  Some focus on residential properties and some on commercial sites.  The choices are many but in considering the Living Building Challenge, the project would deliver worthwhile results while providing satisfaction and higher than average return on investment.  These properties also provide learning opportunities and a holistic approach to building and living for future generations to come.