A local organization, the Omega Institute, just accomplished what many people have said was impossible – they are one of the first two projects to be certified by the Living Building Challenge (LBC).
The LBC goes way beyond LEED, “it defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today and acts to diminish the gap between current limits and ideal solutions. This certification program covers all building at all scales and is a unified tool for transformative design, allowing us to envision a future that is Socially Just, Culturally Rich and Ecologically Restorative.”
A LBC building must be net-zero energy, net-zero water, non-toxic, provide for habitat restoration on adjacent sites, and urban agriculture is mandated.
One of the most important features of LBC is that it measures the actual performance of buildings. Basically this means that a year after a building was built, measurements are taken to ensure that it is, in fact, net zero in terms of energy and water, etc. This is a big distinction from existing requirements like LEED and CA’s Title 24 which measure performance models and do not hold projects accountable to live up to those models.
LBC has seven performance categories, or ‘Petals’: Site, Water, Energy, Health, Materials, Equity and Beauty. Petals are subdivided into a total of twenty Imperatives:
- Limits to Growth
- Urban Agriculture
- Habitat Exchange
- Car Free Living
- Net Zero Water
- Ecological Water Flow
- Net Zero Energy
- Civilized Environment
- Healthy Air
- Biophilia
- Red List
- Embodied Carbon Footprint
- Responsible Industry
- Appropriate Sourcing
- Conservation + Reuse
- Human Scale + Humane Places
- Democracy + Social Justice
- Rights to Nature
- Beauty + Spirit
- Inspiration + Education
The project cannot contain any of the following Red List materials or chemicals:
- Asbestos
- Cadmium
- Chlorinated Polyethylene and Chlorosulfonated Polyethlene
- Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
- Chloroprene (Neoprene)
- Formaldehyde (added)
- Halogenated Flame Retardants
- Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)
- Lead (added)
- Mercury
- Petrochemical Fertilizers and Pesticides
- Phthalates
- Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
- Wood treatments containing Creosote, Arsenic or Pentachlorophenol
When I visited Omega this summer they mentioned the Red List and how they had to consult an eight page list of banned materials when buying carpeting for their classroom space. I asked if this was burdensome, “not at all, it’s what is best for the people who use our space.”
Bravo to Omega for taking this leap and being a leader. Showing others what could be is a powerful thing.