The International Living Building Institute announced the results of its first third-party certification audits, proving that “Living Buildings” can be designed and built to benefit the ecosystems they inhabit. In recognition of this achievement, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) will be profiling the program and sharing other ongoing project efforts in the Introduction to Living Building Challenge 2.0 session at CitiesAlive, the 8th Annual Green Roof and Wall Conferencein Vancouver, BC on December 1, 2010. This special education session introduces participants to the current Living Building Challenge standard – a philosophy, advocacy tool, and certification program that promotes the integration of restorative principles into all scales of development and advance restorative green building design. The session’s instructor will be Mona Lemoine, Director of Education and Training for the International Living Building Institute and its sister organization, Cascadia Green Building Council.

GRHC also supports the goals of the Living Building Challenge through courses and workshops at CitiesAlive emphasizing integrated design practices such as:

• Integrated Water Management Seminar for Buildings & Sites course will focus on integrated water management concepts and terminology illustrated by case studies and demonstration projects to identify key issues and opportunities.
• Introduction to Rooftop Urban Agriculture course reviews multiple approaches to growing food on rooftops through design and maintenance principles, and case studies drawn from across North America.
• Ecological Green Roof Design course introduces participants to design and building principals for their own ecological green roofs by learning about biodiversity, advanced green roof design and sustainable landscaping principles.
• Collaborative Design Principles and Living Buildings sessionexplores leading-edge approaches to collaborative design and demonstrates how they were applied to a building pursuing certification in the Living Building Challenge.

“The Living Building Challenge calls for a fundamental shift in how we conceive of the built environment,” said Jason F. McLennan, CEO of the International Living Building Institute. “These are quite simply the greenest buildings in the world. If the building industry follows the example set by these pioneering teams, we can begin healing our ecosystems and creating a future in which all life can thrive.”

The Living Building Challenge is widely regarded as the world’s most rigorous green building performance standard and has redefined the design and construction process for more than seventy projects since its launch in 2006. A Living Building must generate all of its own energy through clean, renewable resources; capture and treat its own water through ecologically sound techniques; incorporate only nontoxic, appropriately sourced materials; and operate efficiently and for maximum beauty. Summary information about each certified project is available at http://ilbi.org/lbc/certified  .

“The Living Building Challenge has ushered in a new era of green building with these certifications and we offer our sincere congratulations,” said Steven Peck, president and founder of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities.

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is presenting CitiesAlive: 8th Annual Green Roof and Wall Conference, in partnership with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and Cascadia Green Building Council. This event will feature leading-edge designs, new technical performance research, advanced maintenance training, tours, and new economic and policy as well as Green Roof Professional training from November 30-December 3, 2010.  <http://www.citiesalive.org> for agenda details, media passes and registration information.