This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
ENR logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
ENR logo
  • News
  • Projects
    • Buildings
    • Construction Methods
    • Design
    • Sustainability
    • Transportation
    • Environment
    • Power & Industrial
    • Water & Dams
    • Best Projects
  • Business
    • Safety & Health
    • Workforce
    • Finance
    • Companies
    • Project Delivery
    • Ethics & Corruption
    • Government
    • Risk
    • Pulse
    • Contractor Business Strategy
  • Talent
    • Awards
      • Top 25 Newsmakers
      • Award of Excellence
      • Legacy Award
      • Top Young Professionals
    • Promotions & New Hires
    • Obituaries
    • Annual Photo Contest
  • Regions
    • ENR California
    • ENR MidAtlantic
    • ENR Midwest
    • ENR Mountain States
    • ENR New York
    • ENR New England
    • ENR Northwest
    • ENR Southeast
    • ENR Southwest
    • ENR Texas & Louisiana
    • Regional Contests and Surveys
  • Tech
    • Information Technology
    • Construction Technology
    • BIM
  • Products
    • Equipment
    • Materials
    • Product Snapshot
  • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Editorials
    • Viewpoints
    • Letters
    • Book Reviews
  • Costs
    • Construction Economics Archive
    • Construction Cost Index
    • Building Cost Index
    • Historical Indices
    • Quarterly Cost Reports
    • FAQs
  • Lists
    • ENR Top Lists
    • ENR Sourcebooks
    • Survey Schedule
  • CE Center
  • InfoCenters
    • Disrupt or Be Disrupted
    • Innovations in Waterproofing
    • Planning for Project Perfection
    • Revolutionizing Productivity Safety
    • The Business of Projects
  • Events
    • AEC BuildTech
    • Award of Excellence
    • Best of the Best Project Awards
    • FutureTech
    • Groundbreaking Women in Construction
    • Global Best Projects Awards
    • Port Authority of NY & NJ
    • Regional Best Projects
    • Top 25 Newsmakers
    • Upcoming Events
    • Webinars
  • More
    • Subscription
    • Proposals & Bids
    • Industry Jobs
    • Special Reports
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Store
    • Videos
    • Interactive Spotlights
    • Digital Editions
    • Year In Construction Photo Contest
    • Special Advertising Sections
  • About
    • Contact
    • Advertise
Home » McLennan Creates a Deep-Green Building Movement
SustainabilityEnvironmentTop 25 NewsmakersAwards2015

McLennan Creates a Deep-Green Building Movement

Modular classroom at Phipps Conservatory

Super Sustainable A modular classroom at the Phipps Conservatory is on its way to certification as a Living Building.

Courtesy of Phipps Conservatory

January 11, 2016
Nadine M. Post
KEYWORDS International Living Future Institute / Living Building Challenge / Phipps Conservatory / SEED Classroom / Top 25 Newsmakers
Reprints
No Comments
Jason F. McLennan

Jason F.
McLennan

Jason F. McLennan thinks of himself as a green warrior. One of his email addresses is even greenwarrior@earthlink.net. Yet McLennan started a peaceful “evolution” to make the world a better place through more-sustainable built environments. And the symbol of his rigorous program—the Living Building Challenge—is not a weapon but a flower.

In a way, however, McLennan has declared war on buildings, which are the world’s worst power users, water hogs and polluters. Buildings account for 39% of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S., according to the U.S. Dept.of Energy.

McLennan’s most powerful weapon, to date, is the Living Building Challenge sustainability certification program, which he launched in 2006.

LBC goes way beyond the U.S. Green Building Council’s popular LEED rating system, especially because it puts limits on the amount of energy and water used by occupants and operators. The highest level of certification, a Living Building, requires net-zero annual energy and water use, among other performance areas. No Living Building is certified before a year of successful operation.

ENR's Top 25 Newsmakers Icon“Early on, a lot of people thought the Living Building Challenge was too difficult and expensive,” says McLennan. “There was a huge litany of excuses.”

That was then. The LBC is catching on. Around the globe, there are more than 300 registered projects, representing more than 11 million sq ft. “People no longer say they can’t,” says McLennan.

The LBC includes seven performance areas, called “petals”: place, water, energy, health and happiness, materials, equity and beauty. Teams can meet any number of performance areas. If a team meets all seven, the building is declared a Living Building. The group also created a Living Communities Challenge.

Through the International Living Future Institute, which McLennan founded in 2011 to administer all the programs of the LBC, McLennan developed the world’s first certification program for net-zero annual energy use. He started Declare, the world’s first building-materials ingredient label, and the Red List, the first list of harmful chemicals in many building products.

McLennan also created the first transparency label for building energy use. Called Reveal, it recently entered the market.

Since 2006, the McLennan, his team and the early adopters of the LBC have changed state and local laws around water and waste that had made it impossible to do a Living Building. These changes have resulted in reducing water use by millions of gallons each year, says McLennan.

The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, in Pittsburgh, is working on its third Living Building. The first project—which is net-positive, not just net-zero—has “no electric, water, cooling or heating bills,” says Richard Piacentini, Phipps’ executive director.

Satisfied that the Living Future Institute is on a healthy course, McLennan is returning to the production of extreme-green architecture. On Jan. 1, he stepped down as the group’s CEO, though he is chairman of the board. Amanda Sturgeon, executive director, is his successor.

McLennan has formed McLennan Design with partners Tom Knittel and Dale Duncan. The firm is targeting clients of means to fund deep-green projects. McLennan also is launching a charitable group, called the Green Warrior Society. He hopes to donate 20% of the firm’s time to deep-green projects for the underserved and needy. “It’s a bit of a Robin Hood model,” says McLennan.

Two pro-bono pilot projects are the William Jefferson Clinton Children’s Center, an orphanage in Haiti, and Save a Warrior Village, a project in Kansas City, Mo., that will help U.S. veterans and first responders deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. The orphanage is scheduled to break ground next month. The village is currently under design.

“Jason is an incredible visionary, not only concerning the Living Building Challenge, which is so important on so many levels, but because he is constantly thinking about new things,” says Piacentini. “He keeps raising the bar.”


Go Back to the Top 25 Newsmakers

ENR Subscribe

Recent Articles by Nadine M. Post

More Tools, Green Product Picks and Goals from Greenbuild

Beta Version of Embodied Carbon Calculator Premieres

Structural Engineer Nancy Hamilton, 60, Known for Leading Complex Aviation Projects

Nadine-m-post

Nadine Post is Editor-at-Large of ENR

Related Articles

Creating a "Poster Building" for Leading-Edge Sustainability

Building a Solid Case for Green Timber Towers

Post a comment to this article

Report Abusive Comment

Subscription Center
  • Subscribe
  • Renew Your Subscription
  • eNewsletter Subscriptions
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • Connect with ENR

More Videos

Popular Stories

NTSB final Report

Final Collapse Report Details Miami Bridge Team's Failures

The Claw

Famous Concert Stage Structure Becomes New Landmark for Utah Aquarium Expansion

1125MortMortensonobit.jpg

Mortenson Construction's M.A. "Mort" Mortenson is Dead at 82

Damaged tower cranes

Tricky Takedown of Tower Cranes Readied Collapsed New Orleans Hotel for Demolition

Southern Ohio Veterans Memorial Highway

Fixing Construction's Fixed-Price Conundrum

Industry Jobs



Products

2020 BNi Green Building Square Foot Costbook

2020 BNi Green Building Square Foot Costbook

See More Products

Special Ad Section

Construction Equipment Showcase
 Construction Equipment Showcase
 View all Special Ad Sections
 Archives

 


ENR

ENR Digital Edition Cover

Dec 9, 2019

A joint venture of Skanska, Corman Kokosing Construction Co. and McLean Contracting Co. is moving toward an early 2020 construction start for a $463-million replacement for a 79-year-old bridge across the Potomac River, south of Washington, D.C.

View More Create Account
  • Resources
    • advertise
    • contact us
    • about us
    • photo submissions
    • customer service
    • digital edition
    • Survey And Sample
  • Subscription Center
    • Subscribe
    • Website Registration
    • Privacy Policy
    • eNewsletters
    • FAQ
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Slideshows
    • Photo Contest

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing