The Living Building Challenge is a philosophy, advocacy tool and certification program that promotes the most advanced measurement of sustainability in the built environment possible today. It can be applied to development at all scales, from buildings – both new construction and renovation, to infrastructure, landscapes and neighborhoods. Living Building Challenge comprises seven performance areas: site, water, energy, health, materials, equity and beauty. These are subdivided into a total of twenty Imperatives, each of which focuses on a specific sphere of influence:

Petals	Imperatives	Neighborhood	Building	Landscape+Infrastructure	Renovation
Site	Limits to growth
	Urban Agriculture			not required	not required
	Habitat exchange
	Car free living			not required	not required
Water	Net zero water
	Ecological water flow				not required
Energy	Net zero energy
Health	Civilized environment			not required
	Healthy air			not required
	Biophilia				not required
Materials	Red list
	Embodied carbon footprint
	Responsible industry
	Appropriate sourcing
	Conservation + reuse
Equity	Human scale + humane places				not required
	Democracy + social justice				not required
	Rights to nature				not required
Beauty	Beauty + spirit
	Inspiration + education

NOTE: This chart does not include the Scale Jumping overlay allowed for some Imperatives. Scale Jumping allows multiple buildings or projects to operate in a cooperative state – sharing green infrastructure as appropriate and allowing for Living Building, Site or Community status to be achieved as elegantly and efficiently as possible.
Certification is based on actual, rather than modeled or anticipated, performance. Therefore, projects must be operational for at least twelve consecutive months prior to evaluation. To earn 'Living' status (full program certification), projects must meet all assigned Imperatives and have proven performance through at least twelve consecutive months of operation. To celebrate successes and to educate other efforts, project teams may earn Petal Recognition (partial program certification) by satisfying the requirements of a minimum of three categories, of which at least one must be water, energy or materials. The first Living Buildings^SM were certified in October 2010.
The Living Building Challenge was initially launched by the Cascadia Green Building Council (a chapter of both the US Green Building Council and Canada Green Building Council). The International Living Building Institute was created of and by Cascadia in May 2009 to oversee the Living Building Challenge and its auxiliary programs. In April 2011, the International Living Building Institute was renamed the International Living Future Institute (the Institute), and became the umbrella organization for both the Living Building Challenge and the Cascadia Green Building Council, along with The Natural Step USA and Ecotone Publishing.
There are more than a hundred project teams pursuing the Challenge, most of which have officially registered with the Institute. Select projects include:

Project	City/Province	ST	Country	Status	Owner/Developer	Project Team Members
Omega Center for Sustainable Living	Rhinebeck	NY	USA	certified: Living	Omega Institute	Chazen, Conservation Design Forum, Tipping-Mar + Associates, BNIM Architects, BGR Consulting Engineers, Planet Reuse, Natural Systems International, John Todd Ecological Design, David Sember Construction
Tyson Living Learning Center	Eureka	MO	USA	certified: Living	Washington University	Grimes Consulting, Williams Creek Consulting, Lewisites, ASDG, LLC, Hellmuth + Bicknese Architects, Solutions AEC, Clivis Multrum, Straight Up Solar, Bingman Construction Company
Eco-Sense	Victoria	BC	Canada	certified: Petal	Ann + Gord Baird	C.N. Ryzuk, Kris Dick, Building Alternatives, Byron Merriam (A-Tech Plumbing), Mike Isbrucker (Alternative Electric)
Hawaii Preparatory Academy Energy Lab	Kamuela	HI	USA	certified: Living	Hawaii Preparatory Academy	Belt Collins Hawaii Ltd., Walter Vorfeld & Associates, Flansburgh Architects, Hakalau Engineering, LLC, Buro Happold
EcoCenter at Heron's Head Park	San Francisco	CA	USA	occupied	Literacy for Environmental Justice	Land Development Solutions, Fulcrum Engineering, Toby Long Design, Rick Miller, Occidental Power, Eckman Environmental, John Todd Ecological, Helix Wind Power, Warm Floors
UniverCity Childcare	Burnaby	BC	Canada	construction	Simon Fraser University	Space2Place, Fast + Epp, RADA, Hughes Condon Marler, Cobalt Engineering
Alice Ferguson Foundation	Accokeek	MD	USA	design	Alice Ferguson Foundation	Andropogon Associates, Ann Rothmann, Re:Vision Architecture, M2 Architecture, AKF Engineers
Center for Sustainable Landscapes	Pittsburgh	PA	USA	construction	Phipps Conservancy	Andropogon Associates, Atlantic Engineering, The Design Alliance, CJL Engineering
VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitors Center	Vancouver	BC	Canada	construction	VanDusen Botanical Garden Association	Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Perkins+Will Canada, Morrison Hershfield Morrison Hershfield Morrison Hershfield is an employee-owned professional services firm providing engineering and management consulting services in the areas of energy and...
Bertschi School Living Science Classroom	Seattle	WA	USA	occupied	Bertschi School	KMD Architects, Skanska, GeoEngineers, GGLO, Quantum Engineers, Rushing, 2020 Engineers, Morrison Hershfield Morrison Hershfield Morrison Hershfield is an employee-owned professional services firm providing engineering and management consulting services in the areas of energy and...
June Key Delta House	Portland	OR	USA	construction	Piedmont Rose/Delta Sigma Theta Sorority	Nye Architecture LLC, TM Rippey Associates, Colas Construction
Oregon Sustainability Center	Portland	OR	USA	pre-construction	Green Building Services, Portland State University	Gerding Edlen, SERA Architects, GBD Architects, Skanska Construction
Okanagan College Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation	Penticton	BC	Canada	construction	Okanagan College	CEI Architecture, True Consulting Group, Site 360, Fast + Epp, AME Consulting Group, Applied Engineering Solutions, PCL
Phinney Neighborhood Center	Seattle	WA	USA	design	Phinney Neighborhood Association
Robert Bateman Centre for Art + Environmental Education	Victoria	BC	Canada	design	Royal Roads University	Iredale Group Architecture
Bullitt Center Bullitt Center The Bullitt Center, previously the Cascadia Center, is a commercial office building under development in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington...	Seattle	WA	USA	design	The Bullitt Foundation	Point32, developer; Schuchart, general contractor; The Miller Hull Partnership, architect; PAE Consulting Engineers, mechanical and electrical engineering; DCI Engineers, structural engineering; RDH Group, envelope engineering; Haley and Aldrich, geotechnical engineering; Springline, civil engineering; 2020 Engineering, water supply and reuse systems; Solar Design Associates, solar technology; BRC Acoustics & Technology Consulting, acoustical engineering; Bush Roes & Hitchings, surveying

International Living Future Institute

The International Living Future Institute is a non-governmental organization (NGO) committed to catalyzing a global transformation toward true sustainability. The Institute seeks partnerships with leaders in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors in pursuit of a future that is socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative.

The Institute’s core programs include the Living Building Challenge, Cascadia Green Building Council, The Natural Step Network USA and Ecotone Publishing. These programs move across scales, offering a global vision for lasting sustainability, partnering with local communities to create grounded and relevant solutions and reaching out to individuals to unleash people’s imagination and innovation.