Living Future unConference 2019

The Living Building Challenge is a performance-based approach to sustainable design of the built environment. Generating measurable positive impacts is at its heart. So how is the Living Building movement doing? What impacts has this movement had to date, and what impacts could it have in the near future? Relatedly, what are the cost implications – for different stakeholders – of living buildings? And what some of the long term operations requirements and benefits of Living Buildings and especially the on-site water systems.

Learning Objectives:

1. List some of the key environmental impacts that living buildings have had to date, and what is driving or causing these impacts
2. Understand the impact potential of scaling up the number of living buildings        
3. Describe what we are learning about the short-term and long-term financial implications of living building for different stakeholders in the process.          
4. Explain the operation and maintenance requirements as well as the ROI and on-going benefits of on-site water systems

This session is approved for the following continuing education credits:

• 1.5 LFA credits
• 1.5 AIA LU|HSW credits

This session addresses an increasingly important topic area: best practices in resilient building design. While significant emphasis has been placed on mediating the impacts of human activities on the environment and climate in the ‘green’ building industry, there is a growing sense of the need to create flexible and adaptive buildings that are resilient to climatic and other risks. Addressing these risks, which range from forest fires and earthquakes, to epidemics and power outages, necessarily requires an integrated and collaborative approach to design. Working across stakeholder groups and design team members is key to identifying the strategies that can efficiently harness resources to address multiple risks, all while reducing energy use and emissions and contributing positively to individual and social well-being.

This session will begin by showcasing examples of resilient building design processes to share lessons learned on effective collaboration, identify key design strategies, and highlight the many community and environmental benefits of resilient buildings. This will occur via presentations from our 4 panelists.

This session is approved for the following continuing education credits:

• 1.5 LFA credits
• 1.5 AIA LU|HSW credits

For a Living Building, the project isn’t over once the building is complete. Owners of Living Buildings are uniquely positioned to share their transformative spaces with others, offering a gateway into the LBC community for all. A powerful educational and experiential tool, tour programs can strengthen relationships with local communities, raise awareness of engagement opportunities, and empower building occupants with a deeper level of living building systems understanding.

In this workshop, three experienced LBC guides will discuss the value, strategy, and impact of building tours, tackling questions such as: How can tours support your institutional or corporate mission? What makes a memorable tour? How do we offer effective tours with sometimes limited knowledge and resources? How can we make our tours accessible to all? What are the goals of a tour program, and how do you know if you’ve been successful?

We’ll share how Hampshire College, the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, and Georgia Institute of Technology leverage tours to strengthen the impact of their Living Building Challenge projects: as part of new building-based research and curriculum, as a component of community outreach and K-12 education, and as a way to involve people in the construction process. Participants will learn how to design tours based on learning theory and proven engagement strategies, including hands-on activities, participatory problem-solving, and digital content. We’ll then invite you to develop a concept plan for your own project tour, offering support and feedback based on our experience. Each participant will leave with a plan to implement a unique, effective, and value-added tour program for their own project or site.

This session is approved for the following continuing education credits:

• 1.25 LFA credits
• 1.25 AIA LU credits

An efficient approach to the Materials Petal begins well before a specific project is released for design. This panel will draw from experiences with institutional owners who have explored and engaged in multiple LBC projects, honing the ability and incentive to continually improve results.
Two experienced consultants and one (or two) owners will discuss ways to incorporate the language and lessons learned over the course of eight years of LBC materials pursuit. They will explain a nuts and bolts approach to establishing ambitious, reasonable project goals that are deliverable and not overly expensive.
Practical design and team considerations include creating a healthy materials-friendly RFP, preparing insightful design team interview questions and spotting potential red flags when choosing teams and consultants. Informed choices at this stage will result in significant savings of time and effort throughout the process.
 Participants will:

• Learn about second- and third-generation RFP language.
• Recognize common pitfalls in team selection and division of responsibility.
• Begin LBC materials projects with confidence in certification feasibility.
• Understand how to incorporate healthier materials goals with minimal additional effort for design and construction teams, lowering anxiety and reducing soft costs.

This session is approved for the following continuing education credits:

• 1.5 LFA credits
• 1.5 AIA LU|HSW credits

This session explores the changes to the Living Building Challenge Standard with the release of LBC 4.0. International Living Future Institute staff will walk through each Imperative that has changed or is new, explaining the rationale behind the changes and highlighting the requirements for teams. There will also be a review of new certification options and information on resources. This session assumes some familiarity with the Living Building Challenge program and the LBC 3.1 requirements, and will therefore not spend time on the overview, background, and philosophy behind the Living Building Challenge Standard, but rather look at the details of the changes from LBC 3.1 to LBC 4.0.

Learning Objectives
1. Navigate and explain the “What’s New in 4.0” table.
2. Compare the certification pathways available to LBC project teams.
3. Describe the new Imperatives.
4. List the reasons for the latest changes to the LBC Standard.

This session is approved for the following continuing education credits:

• 1.25 LFA credits
• 1.25 AIA LU credits

This session is all about best practices, what they are, where to find them, and how they can be used to design better buildings in less time and with less effort. Referencing the COTE Top Ten Toolkit, a new resource that documents design best practices along the broad spectrum of sustainability measures, attendees will learn how the right information, delivered to the right people at the right time is an incredibly effective way to improve performance.

This session will present the sustainable design strategies to focus on when time, resources, or knowledge is limited. The high-impact, low-cost best practices presented in this session can be incorporated into any project and are an effective way of elevating performance in situation where, “you can only do one thing.”

Eight authors of the COTE Toolkit, each an expert in one measure of sustainable design, will share a short case study where one widely accessible and highly effective strategy was used to elevate the performance of a project. Over the span of a five minute presentation, each panelist will introduce a project where sustainability was a challenge, introduce one COTE Top Ten measure of sustainable design, share the one sustainable design strategy that was incorporated into the project from that measure, and show how the strategy improved the outcome.

Each case study will focus on a different sustainable design measure, including: benchmarking, water, energy, community, wellness, discovery, materials, and change. Audience questions will be collected by index card after each case study and the panelists will answer questions after all seven case studies have been presented.

This session is approved for the following continuing education credits:

• 1.25 LFA credits
• 1.25 AIA LU|HSW credits