living building challenge
The International Living Futures Institute (ILFI) stands for being “socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative”. This is the premise that is upheld in all their programmes. One of these programmes is the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most rigorous proven performance standard for buildings. Now in its 11th year, there are 73 certified projects and 380 registered Living Building Challenge projects in 23 countries around the world.
The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is a green building certification programme and sustainable design framework that uses the metaphor of a flower as is framework. Why a flower? Because nature knows best…and if our buildings can be as beautiful, efficient and resourceful as a flower than we know we are on track.
The Living Building Challenge flower is made up of seven performance petals. The petals being:
place, water, energy, health + happiness, materials, equity and beauty.
Within these petals are 20 imperatives which address specific issues through detailed requirements. The LBC designs for the future…where the buildings and its surrounds give more than they take, creating a positive impact on the human and natural systems that interact with them. The outcome – Living buildings - buildings which are resilient, self-sufficient, beautiful and positively restore the surrounding ecology.
The Living Building Challenge is for anyone who wants to invest in a healthy and sustainable future. At Charissa Snijders Architect we are passionate advocates of this Challenge and are committed to build within this framework to help realise a better future for all. So much so, we have been proud sponsors and a member of the Living Futures Institute since 2013. We welcome you to take your first step in investing in a healthy and sustainable future. To learn more about the LBC visit https://living-future.org/lbc/.