LFA Lessons

Tom recently completed Living Future Accreditation through the International Living Future Institute, and learned how the Institute’s ecosystem of programs can help bring about a world that is “socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative.”

Our past clients, many of them visionary, “early adopter” types, have made pioneering Passive House work in the Chicago area possible–through our design and technical support, they have proved that these radical levels of efficiency are possible. They are reaping the benefits of healthier, more comfortable, and more resilient buildings with super low energy costs.

But what if we went beyond mitigating climate change to building fully restorative buildings? What benefits would you, our future clients, reap?

ILFI’s Living Building Challenge is, in many ways, a higher bar than Phius since it requires a broader scope of sustainability measures: beyond Energy, imperatives must be met in the “petals” (categories) of Place, Water, Materials, Beauty (!!), Health and Happiness, and Equity.

• The Materials petal requires that the building is devoid of chemicals of concern in both the built use AND the production of the material.
• The Health and Happiness and Beauty petals ensure quality of environment through natural light and ventilation, biophilic design, and access to nature. It’s easy to see how those occupying Living Buildings would directly benefit!

But there are remarkable long-range benefits in the program:

• The Place petal requires that projects do not use land that should be kept for farming, wetlands, or other protected areas. But the Place petal also requires investment in wildlife or natural lands conservation, so with each building, land use moves in the right direction; over time, we get healthier ecosystems.
• The Equity petal requires some project team members to achieve ILFI’s Just label, advancing workplace equity, and requires either diverse stakeholders in the design and construction team, or support of charitable organizations; these measures are a long-term investment in society. Imagine if every building project helped create a more just society.

ILFI has several ways to walk the Living Building path–one way is to get Petal certification: as long as the project achieves Water, Energy, or Materials, it can optionally add others that are attainable for the team. Alternatively, projects can achieve Core certification, meeting a limited number of (easier to achieve) Imperatives across the seven Petals.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss Living Building options with you, and hope to connect future building users to a myriad of benefits.