The 2014 Living Future unConference.

So excited to be at the 2014 Living Future unConference, in Portland, Oregon ! Humans are nature. We do not live in straight lines. We are infinitely varied and constantly changing. Truly resilient and regenerative design recognizes this unbounded human experience. It feeds our souls along with our bodies. It leaves space for imaginations to soar, even as it shelters us from the wind and rain. We will only redefine our relationship to the resources we rely upon if we lead with love that truly profound beauty inspires. At Living Future 2014 we are exploring how beauty and inspiration can transform our movement and ourselves.

2014_05_21 immagine 05 — Portland, Oregon

The International Living Future Institute is hosting its eighth annual unConference, Living Future 2014, on May 21 – 23, 2014 at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower in downtown Portland, Oregon. Living Future is the forum for leading minds in the green building movement seeking solutions to the most daunting global issues of our time. Out-of-the-ordinary learning and networking formats provide innovative design strategies, cutting-edge technical information, and the inspiration needed to achieve significant progress toward a truly living future. LF 2014 will explore beauty and inspiration by convening creative minds from the realms of art, music, science, architecture, engineering and design. This diversity of perspective facilitiates a level of dialogue and discovery rarely found at building industry conferences.

Focused on providing proven, practical, ambitious and visionary strategies that address whole earth impacts, a diverse collection of inspiring keynote and plenary speakers will surely keep the positive energy flowing throughout Living Future: Maya Lin / Artist, Maya Lin Studio, Jason F. McLennan / CEO, International Living Future Institute, Jay Harman / Naturalist and Author.

The Living Building Challenge^TM is the built environment’s most rigorous performance standard. It calls for the creation of building projects at all scales that operate as cleanly, beautifully and efficiently as nature’s architecture. To be certified under the Challenge, projects must meet a series of ambitious performance requirements, including net zero energy, waste and water, over a minimum of 12 months of continuous occupancy.

Projects can achieve three types of certification. Full Certification, Petal Recognition or Net Zero Energy Building Certification. The Living Building Challenge project certification process for projects pursuing Full Certification or Petal Recognition (NZEB Certification follows a slightly different process) is intentionally straightforward, while still fostering an environment of support and collaboration. A project’s path from inspired vision to inspirational achievement consists of three steps: Registration, Documentation + Operation and Audit + Certification. The Living Building Challenge is composed of seven performance areas, or ‘Petals’: Site, Water, Energy, Health, Materials, Equity and Beauty. Petals are subdivided into a total of twenty Imperatives, each of which focuses on a specific sphere of influence. Certification fees are tiered based on project square meters and are paid prior to audit. Alternatively, projects pursuing Full Certification can elect a two-part certification process, through which Imperatives unrelated to project performance can be audited prior to the 12-month operational phase.

One example of a Living Building Challenge certified project is the Bullitt Center, in Seattle, the greenest commercial building in the world. It is the first commercial office building to pursue the LBC and it is setting new precedents for environmental performance in urban in-fill development. The project is the outcome of years of work by a team that includes the Bullitt Foundation, Point32, Miller Hull Partnership and others. Completed in fall 2012, the building’s rooftop solar array will generate as much electricity as occupants use in a year, collect and treat its wastewater onsite. It will also treat rainwater for showers and irrigation, and once approved by regulators, for drinking too.