The Challenge Explained
EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK "TRANSFORMATIONAL THOUGHT"
by LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE founder Jason F. McLennan
"The Challenge calls for buildings, neighborhoods and communities that are net-zero energy, water, and waste; comprised of nontoxic, sustainably-sourced materials; and beautiful and inspiring to all who encounter them.
The Challenge dramatically raises the bar for building performance (shifting the goal from incremental improvement to true ecological sustainability, and basing certification on demonstrated achievement). It views green building through a wide lens that includes the inhabitants of the built environment and takes into account the upstream and downstream impacts of modern building materials. In other words, with the launch of the Living Building Challenge, its founder Jason F. McLennan called for the green building movement to become a critical partner in the global effort for a socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative planet.
The building projects inspired by the Living Building Challenge eliminate waste, feature natural lighting, onsite capture of rainwater, energy (wind, solar, and thermal) and organic matter (food scraps and human waste) for recycling and reuse, and urban gardens (edible roofs and walls and built in green houses). Water is used in the first cycle for drinking, dish washing, and showering; recycled for laundry and micro-f lush composting toilets, and directed from there to onsite gardens from which it filters into the aquifer. Hot water, cooking, and space heating are integrated to optimize overall energy efficiency.
Every natural system on the planet is declining at a steadily increasing rate, and The Living Building Challenge addresses this catastrophic failure from all angles, incorporating four signal environmental and social issues: Climate Change; Persistent Toxic Chemicals; Habitat Loss/Species Extinction; and Global Inequity. The Challenge embodies the belief that it is impossible to solve any of these problems in isolation from each other, and that transforming the building industry and built environment will strike at the root causes."
For more information about THE LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE visit https://living-future.org