Living Building Challenge

Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica Designs Greenest Municipal Building in the World

Amber Richane, Project Manager for the city of Santa Monica's new City Services Building, on the city's commitment to building the world's most sustainable public building.

November 22, 2019 - The Planning Report

Green

The Search for a New Green Building Standard

The need to slash emissions from buildings is increasingly urgent, and critics say LEED won't get us there.

June 8, 2018 - CityLab

Seeking Sustainability Beyond LEED

What does it take to build sustainably? That a question that the USGBC's LEED program hoped to define. A group of developers in New York is trying to go beyond LEED to create "truly sustainable buildings".

November 9, 2013 - The New York Times

Seattle Architects Break the Law in Design for Super Green Office Building

When the new headquarters for the Bullitt Foundation opens this April in Seattle, it will be among the first to meet the Living Building Challenge - "the most stringent green standard around." But getting there isn't easy, and may be illegal.

January 25, 2013 - Architizer

D.C. to Push the Envelope of Sustainability With 'Living Building' Project

Already an urban leader in sustainability with one of the most stringent green building laws in the country, Washington D.C. announced last week that it will create the city’s first “living building” as part of the Sustainable D.C. Budget Challenge.

December 17, 2012 - The Washington Post

'No Credits, Just Prerequisites'

The Living Building Challenge is a new environmental rating system that focuses on required environmental design elements, diverging dramatically from the credit-based approach of the built environment's dominant rating system, LEED.

November 6, 2009 - Metropolis Magazine

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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.