IntelEfficient

What if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place?  That’s the fundamental question posed by the International Living Building Institute, which created a new building standard that seeks to promote true sustainability in the world’s built environment.

When the leaders of Washington University’s Tyson Research Center in Eureka started planning to expand their facility, they wanted a new building that was “over the top green.”  John Chase, director of the facility, found out about the Living Building Challenge, and decided that this was the certification they wanted to pursue.

The Living Building Challenge uses a flower to symbolize sustainable structures, where the building becomes an extension of the environment in which it is placed.  The LBC calls for each building to produce all of its own energy from renewable resources, and capture and treat all of its own water and waste.  This involves efficiency and conservation, but the standard also includes beauty in the building design.  The ILBI uses the petals of a flower to represent the primary facets of sustainable building, including site selection, water, energy, health, materials, equity, and beauty.  This standard is more stringent that LEED certification (the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard), with mandatory requirements that form an “all or nothing” certification.

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