Thanks to relaxed COVID-19 guidelines from the International Living Future Institute and a digital twin, the 47,000-sq-ft Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta lost no time becoming a role model for Living Buildings in hot, humid climates. ILFI’s rigorous Living Building Challenge program anointed the project as a Living Building on Earth Day, April 22.
The Kendeda Building, which won an ENR Best of the Best Projects award, is the first building of its scale to achieve full certification in the Southeast. The building’s photovoltaic solar array satisfies 100% of the energy needs, and overproduces another 125% under the business-as-usual model, according to the Kendeda team.