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The Living Building Challenge Wins the 2012 Buckminster Fuller Challenge!
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Yuka Yoneda
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Architecture,Design,News,Technology |
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Living Building Challenge founder Jason McLennan
What if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place? It seems a far cry from our current situation, right? Lofty thought it may seem, that’s the goal that the Living Building Challenge has been working towards with their initiative, which is much more than a certification program for sustainable buildings – it’s also a philosophy, an advocacy tool and a support network. The LBC’s goal is to define measures of sustainable architecture while providing guidance to make it easier for architects and designers to grasp what may otherwise look like idealistic benchmarks.
In order to be certified as a Living Building, a project must meet five stipulations for at least a full year. The building must: 1. generate all of its own, renewable energy on-site, 2. capture and treat all of its own water, 3. use only non-toxic and sustainably-sourced construction materials, 4. be placed on already-developed sites in order to reduce urban sprawl and 5. be beautiful and inspiring to its occupants and others.
We congratulate the Living Building Challenge on their win and hope that the $100,000 prize and the recognition of their truly innovative endeavors leads to even more structures becoming Living Buildings that protect and improve the environment around them. To learn more about the Living Building Challenge and the other esteemed finalists of this year’s Buckminster Fuller Challenge, visit their website here.
+ Living Building Challenge
+ Buckminster Fuller Challenge
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We’ve been sitting on the edge of our buckyballs for the past few weeks waiting to find out the winner of the 2012 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, and now the moment of truth has finally arrived! And the winner is… the Living Building Challenge! We weren’t at all surprised that the project which sets the world’s highest ecological standard for building thoughtful, sustainable architecture, reigned supreme in this search for solutions to make our world a better place. Read on to learn more about this…
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This slide shows that the Living Building Challenge goes above and beyond other green building programs, promoting architecture that is actually good for the environment, not just “not bad.”
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Living Building Challenge founder Jason McLennan
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Mr. McLennan showed members of the audience some really powerful projects that the LBC has worked on like this Seattle school where the kids requested a river in their school and actually got it!
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Another powerful story Mr. McLennan shared with us. When he visited this living school, a 15 year old female student actually took him on a detailed tour teaching him about the building’s systems and energy-saving mechanisms. How’s that for making a difference in people’s lives and affecting the next generation?
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The Omega Center is actually a wastewater treatment facility but it’s so lovely and inspiring that people do yoga in there. Breathing deeply in a sewage treatment plant? Yes, if it’s a Living Building!
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Hawaii Preparatory Academy by Flansburgh Architects, Photo by Matthew Millman
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The Omega Center for Sustainable Living in Rhinebeck, NY was the world’s first certified Living Building.
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We congratulate the Living Building Challenge on their win and hope that the $100,000 prize and the recognition of their truly innovative endeavors leads to even more structures becoming Living Buildings that protect and improve the environment around them.
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To learn more about the Living Building Challenge and the other esteemed finalists of this year’s Buckminster Fuller Challenge, visit their website here.
Living Building Challenge founder Jason McLennan
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