Promulgators of the Living Building Challenge, acknowledged as the most demanding certification program for the production of ultragreen buildings, are on a campaign to scale up the size of the projects that register for the rigorous net-zero annual energy- and water-use performance categories. As the movement to reduce energy and water use in buildings continues to grow, the International Living Future Institute, which administers the LBC, is actively seeking more teams to move beyond net-zero to net-positive annual energy and water production.
“We are facing a real water crisis,” with 783 million people, globally, without access to clean water, said Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the nonprofit International Living Future Institute, at ILFI’s Net Positive Energy + Water Conference, held Feb. 18-19 in San Diego. “How do we challenge ourselves to create models to save water?” she asked the 325 attendees.