10 Things to Know About the Living Building Challenge (LBC)

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The Living Building Challenge is a global building certification program that assesses projects based on sustainability and social justice concepts. The holistic certification program strives to elevate green building goals to a new level that goes beyond the “do no environmental harm” to “regenerate the environment” while connecting people to nature. For this reason, buildings are not assessed until they have been in operation for at least 12 months. Design justice is increasingly becoming a key concept embraced by architects, engineers, and building contractors. LBC does not replace existing and more traditional green building certification programs. It is intended to enhance them. This article reviews 10 important elements of the Living Building Challenge for the purpose of providing an overview of its mission, goals, and performance areas.

What you will learn

1. Understand the philosophy of the Living Building Challenge (LBC)
2. Identify and learn about the performance areas under LBC
3. Identify LBC’s certification paths
4. Learn about the LBC “Declare” and “Just” Labels