Living Building Challenge

As a member of the Victoria Real Estate Board's Green Task Force, last night I attended a lecture at Camosun College given by the Cascadia Green Building Council. It was part of their Transformational Lecture Series and the presenter was Jason McLennan. Jason is the founding President and CEO of Ecotone Publishing. He is a national leader in the green architecture movement and is considered a thought leader in sustainability. His topic was on Collaboration, mythology, people's stories and what it takes for change to occur.

One example Jason gave was about Juneau, Alaska. After being affected by an avalanche, their power supply was cut and, having to use emergency generators, which were extremely costly, the population of Juneau, managed to cut their hydro use by 40%.

Cascadia has brought forth the "Living Building Challenge". It takes LEED to the next level, and is based on the model of a flower, and its 6 petals :

• Site
• Energy
• Materials
• Water
• Indoor Quality
• Beauty + Inspiration

A Living Building Challenge Building:

• generates all of its own energy with renewable resources
• captures and treats all of its water
• operates efficiently and for maximum beauty

In it's first year, 60 projects have been introduced in North America. The first one in Canada is at Cambrian College in Sudbury, which will house a practical hands-on lab for electrical and plumbing classes. To learn more about the Living Building Challenge or The Cascadia Green Building Council, please go to www.cascadiagbc.org.

Something else interesting that Jason mentioned that you might want to check out is Dwell Magazine. If you want to read about new homes, and products that are energy efficient or energy saving, go to www.dwell.com.