Living Building Challenge

 

What if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place?

The Living Building Challenge is a green building certification program and sustainable design framework that visualizes the ideal for the built environment. It uses the metaphor of a flower because the ideal built environment should function as cleanly and efficiently AS A FLOWER.

In 2018 the Burbeck Home was Certified Living by the Living Future Institute through their Living Building Challenge. This was only the second residence in the world to earn this certification. You can read more about the project on the Burbeck Home page.

Design for the Future

With the Living Building Challenge, you create buildings that are:

  • Regenerative spaces that connect occupants to light, air, food, nature, and community.

  • Self-sufficient and remain within the resource limits of their site. Living Buildings produce more energy than they use and collect and treat all water on site.

  • Healthy and beautiful.

Living buildings give more than they take, creating a positive impact on the human and natural systems that interact with them. 

Petals

The Living Building Challenge is organized into seven performance areas called Petals. Each Petal is further sub-divided into Imperatives, which address specific issues through detailed requirements.

The Living Building Challenges employs the use of a flower metaphor for the framework. Flowers are an accurate representation of a truly regenerative building which receives all of its energy from the sun, nutrients from the soil, and water from the sky. Similar to a flower, they simultaneously shelter other organisms and support the surrounding ecosystem. They also serve as beauty and inspiration and adapt to their surroundings. Meanwhile, the petals of the flower represent each performance area in the framework.

These petals include Materials, Place, Water, Energy, Health and Happiness, Equity, and Beauty.

Learn more about the Living Building Challenge here and learn more about our Certified Living Home, Burbeck here.