Living building challenge

Glenroy Community Hub’s centrepiece is a new contemporary library. Framing the Hub as a ‘social connector’ was a key strategy to build community resilience while bringing together diverse groups and encouraging community regeneration and inter-generational connection. The library is colocated with a kindergarten, Maternal Child Health, a community health provider, neighbourhood learning facilities, and space to socialise. Dianna Snape Photography In a first for community buildings in Australia, the Hub is Passive House certified, while also built to achieve Living Building Challenge Petal Certification and Zero Energy Certification. Both certifications rigorously measure environmental performance and demand high comf... More

The design for Google’s first ever purpose-built headquarters is rooted in a single question: how can you make the office more human?Created by Heatherwick Studio and BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), the new campus spans two sites in Mountain View, California: Bay View and Charleston East. Bay View, the first phase to be completed, features three of the most sustainable workplace buildings in the world and establishes a 17.3-acre park and wetlands reserve.Below ground, the project has the largest geothermal pile system in North America. Above ground, under the Californian sun, the tent-like enclosures are made of waves of dragon-scale photovoltaic tiles, which turn energy generation into a spectacular design feature. Iwan Baan The typ... More

Located in the heart of Atlanta, The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech was created to foster environmental education, research, and a public forum for community outreach. Designed by the collaboration of The Miller Hull Partnership, LLP and Lord Aeck Sargent Planning and Design, Inc (LAS), The Kendeda Building is the first Living Building of its kind in the Southeast United States, setting a new standard for sustainability. Jonathan Hillyer The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is the world’s most rigorous proven performance sustainability certification standard for buildings. A Full Certified Living Building needs to meet all 20 Imperatives of the Challenge, which are divided into seven Petals, or... More

HED’s passion for simplicity and sustainability balanced form with function and delight, while adhering to the realities of tight economic constraints. The five-story development is comprised of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom residential units providing affordable housing for households at or below 60% of the area median income, along with interior and exterior shared community spaces. It also includes approximately 4,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, currently slated for development into a grocery store, addressing the lack of this amenity in the area. Patsy McEnroe Photography Inc Patsy McEnroe Photography Inc With a nationwide shortage of affordable housing it is important to celebrate successful... More

Located on a beautifully landscaped bluff overlooking Puget Sound, Loom House is an extensive renovation of a classic 1960s mid-century home. Designed by The Miller Hull Partnership, LLP, an award-winning architecture firm known for its sustainable and regenerative design, Loom House achieved Living Building Challenge 4.0 Certification in early 2021, making it one of only four residences in the world, and the first renovated home, to do so. Inspired by weaving together people, place, community, and equity, Loom House provides owners with a prototype to renovate their homes using resilient retrofitting strategies. Kevin Scott The 3,200-square-foot residence consists of a renovated north and south home. Miller Hull worked to improve the... More

The Lick Wilmerding Campus Expansion & Renovation consists of a major renovation of, and addition to, the campus’ main classroom/administrative building and science labs. The project negotiates the physical constraints of a tight urban campus and also design constraints of being a historic structure. The design takes advantage of being located on a pedestrian-heavy section of Ocean Ave, by creating a new main entry that promotes the identity of the School. The transparency of the entry will showcase built student works and announce their Center for Civic Engagement which reflects the School’s motto of “Head, Heart, Hands”, a philosophy that fosters academics, social and community engagement, and their continu... More

Jabe Blumenthal knows numbers. After graduating from Yale with a degree in Applied Mathematics he joined a little-known software company in the early 80s, Microsoft, and co-designed a little program we now know today as Microsoft Excel.   Jabe also knows climate change. He has served on the board of Seattle-based Climate Solutions for over a decade, advocating for ‘practical and profitable solutions to global warming’ throughout the Pacific Northwest. He also knows a thing or two about the costs and benefits of climate-friendly construction. He served on the board of the Bullitt Foundation when that group planned and built its noted “living building,” the Bullitt Center.   So when Jabe and his family be... More

The future of Phoenix needs to be more sustainable and denser, say the architects Studio Ma, who celebrate the completion of their much-anticipated The Hollyhock residential complex this summer.The modern, comfortable and sophisticated new collection of 11 townhouses connected by walkable, neighborly courtyards is a speculative infill multifamily housing development in the architecturally noteworthy Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix. The one- and two-story living units are organized around private gardens, lush walkways, and a community commons, yet occupy a compact built footprint of just under 13,000 square feet and are constructed with an economical approach that ensure... More

Designed to meet Hawai'i Preparatory Academy’s goal to create a high school science building focused on the study of alternative energy, the 6,100-sf Energy Lab inspires students to experiment with renewable energy technologies. The award-winning building employs photovoltaics and wind turbines to meet its energy needs (using no more energy than it generates over the course of a year), harvests rainwater to meet its potable water needs, uses natural ventilation, and has views outdoors from 100% of its occupied spaces. To promote environmental literacy, students can monitor the building’s energy use in real time. The design supports project-based learning, a key component in 21st-century learning pedagogies, and encourages scie... More

GLOBAL FLORA reimagines how the design of a sustainable greenhouse can enhance global interdisciplinary science education and deepen a public understanding of nature. The Global Flora botanical facility expands the 1920 vision of Dr. Margaret Ferguson who argued for plant biology as a central part of science education and encouraged students to “listen to” plants and learn through hands-on interdisciplinary experiences. Global Flora houses a pre-eminent global plant collection in Dry and Tropical biomes. The iconic Durant Camellia tree, over 140 years old, is housed in a seasonal pavilion that connects with the new facility. Global Flora exceeds the Net Zero Water & Energy requirements of the Living Building Challenge, the w... More

Conceived as an urban rooftop farm showcasing farm to table eating within a commercial shopping centre development, Acre Eatery is a sophisticated and sustainably focused restaurant located in suburban Melbourne.   Currently operating in Camperdown, Sydney, Acre Eatery were invited by Frasers to deliver the rooftop food space as part of the Burwood Brickworks development in Melbourne with a vision of delivering a farm to table experience within an urban setting.   Describe the project and the key challenges involved Part of the Burwood Brickworks development by Frasers Property, the world’s most sustainable shopping centre, Acre Eatery is an urban rooftop farm showcasing ‘farm to table’ eating in an urban se... More