Two building go net zero
It started as a Challenge to construct buildings that consume no more energy then they produce. That Challenge required actual performance, not just modeling the building and speculating that it might attain this lofty goal. The Living Building Challenge is now a fully functioning certification process managed by the International Living Future Institute – and they already have their first successes.
The ILFI was formed by the Cascadia Green Building Council, a regional chapter of the USGBC. The USGBC and the CGBC have applauded each other for their own certification programs, even though they theoretically compete against each other for certification dollars. I have discussed the topic a few times here on Builders Counsel.
It’s probably a broken record by now, but the USGBC’s LEED Certification program does not require actual performance to attain certification. LEED 2012 has taken a step in that direction, by requiring resubmission every 5 years to maintain your certification, but clearly the program still certifies projects before they can exhibit measurable performance. The Living Building Challenge does mandate actual performance, requiring 12 months of performance data before certification can be awarded. Because of this commitment to validating that building actually work as they are planned, the Living Building Challenge may appeal to government construction projects over the LEED Platinum certification.
This week, the ILFI announced that it has certified its first two projects. A Salem, OR community building known as Painters Hall and a San Jose, CA office building for Integrated Design Associates, affectionately called IDeAs Z2 Design Facility. Both of these building exhibited net zero energy performance over a 1 year period, including treatment of its own wastewater.
I found it kind of refreshing to see that Salem, OR had gone Living Building. You might remember that Salem is the home of one of LEED’s unfortunate black eye projects, Salem Courthouse Square. The Courthouse Square building had to be evacuated after faulty concrete was discovered. Thankfully, the county responsible for that project has decided to fix one of the first LEED certified projects.
Builders should keep a close eye on the ILFI’s Living Building Challenge. As government regulators look for ways to prove to constituents that its “green buildings” are actually green, the Living Building Challenge becomes much more attractive.
