Planting Buildings: The Living Building Challenge JASON McLENNAN

“It has to get all of its energy from the sun. Has to get all of its water needs from the rain that falls on the site that it has. It has to treat its own waste, it can’t be toxic and polluting. And, uh it – it tracks the sun, it opens and closes. It responds actively to the environmental conditions around it. And, above all it’s beautiful and inspiring. And so that’s a perfect metaphor for what our buildings need to do.”

This is nature’s blueprint for building a better world, says visionary architect Jason McLennan. He designed the Living Building Challenge 2.0 to raise the bar on green building: meet or exceed what nature provides. While the standards seem impossibly high, it may be simpler than we imagined.


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