The Living Building Challenge
Raising the Standards of Renewable Energy in Homes
In 2005 the Cascadia Region Green Building Council created the Living Building Challenge. The program is designed to challenge builders, owners, architects, engineers, and design professionals to build environmentally sound and self-sustaining buildings. There are requirements living buildings need in order to meet the challenge. Three of these are that the building shall: A) It generates all of its own energy with renewable resources, B) It captures and treats all of its water on site and C) It uses resources efficiently and for maximum beauty.
Cascadia CEO Jason F. McLennan said that in the two years since launching it the program has exceeded expectations. “We didn’t know what to expect given how stringent the standards of the challenge are,” he explained, “But we have gotten response from people around the world and two new living building projects are preparing to break ground.” In addition to the challenge, Cascadia has partnered with a continuing education training network called the National Sustainable Building Advisor Program (NaSBAP) to offer classes about building green at their new Cascadia Sustainability Academy. The company currently offers a certification course called Sustainable Building Advisor (SBA) program.
There are still some barriers to making living buildings a standard practice. Some of the obstacles are the issues of upfront cost and state building codes that prevent a living building from treating its own water. However, the biggest challenge is the attitude and beliefs of homebuyers. A lot of people have unsubstantiated beliefs about the costs of building a living home. McLennan believes that the cost is not that different than a normal building project. “If you can afford a $400,000 house then you can afford a living building,” he said, ”Holistically, it’s one of the most cost effective things you can do. Someone who takes on a living building is someone who says I am going to support myself.”
As the price of energy goes up so does the appeal of self-sufficient buildings. It is also beneficial that while regular prices rise the cost of alternative energy has begun to drop. For example: the price of wind production per kilowatt has gone down significantly over the last few years. As energy and fuel costs continue to skyrocket the living building becomes an attractive alternative. McLennan believes that, “As companies get more business they will produce more innovations.” In turn these innovations will help lower costs to the consumer and make it easier for buyers to purchase the eco-friendly living building.
The living building challenge is another step towards changing the way we interact with our world. The incredible response the program has received points to the fact that people realize there is a better way to live. Human beings are conditioned and tend to be creatures of habit. Fortunately for us, unhealthy conditioning isn’t permanent. We can begin to reprogram our beliefs about our homes and how they interact with the planet. Hopefully one day the living building challenge will become the living building standard.
The Living Building Education
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