The Sonoran Studio
Living Buildings go beyond “green” or “sustainable” design. Instead, Living Building Challenge standards result in efficient, beautiful buildings that produce more energy than they use—and have net positive impacts on their sites and surroundings.
The Living Futures Institute organizes these standards into seven performance areas, which they liken to the petals of a flower:
Place: Restoring a healthy interrelationship with nature.
Water: Creating developments that operate within the water balance of a given place and climate.
Energy: Relying only on current solar income.
Health & Happiness: Creating environments that optimize physical and psychological health and well being.
Materials: Endorsing products that are safe for all species through time.
Equity: Supporting a just and equitable world.
Beauty: Celebrating design that uplifts the human spirit.
“The Living Building Challenge is the most rigorous benchmark of sustainability in the built environment. It is the gold standard against which all others are measured.”