Dr. Wilkinson’s forthcoming book, Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home, offers a bold roadmap for navigating the climate crisis with clarity, courage, and community. Drawing on personal insights, climate science, and practical strategies, Wilkinson’s work empowers leaders, designers, and communities to translate concern into meaningful action—a message at the heart of Living Future 2026.

“We are at a pivot point where design must become a tool for healing,” says Lindsay Baker, CEO of Living Future. “Dr. Wilkinson’s work perfectly captures the spirit of LF26. She doesn’t just talk about the problem; she gives us the ‘wayfinding’ tools to strengthen our resolve and abilities as climate leaders, as world shapers, and as community members in this beautiful community of climate action.

Living Future 2026 is far more than a conference; it is a collaborative meeting ground where architects, designers, developers, and advocates unite to shape the next era of the built environment. This year’s program is strategically built around four high-impact tracks designed to address our most urgent challenges. Through Radical Climate Action, we focus on decarbonizing our buildings at scale, while Thriving Communities ensures we center equity and health in every zip code. We further explore the shift from mere sustainability to restorative design through Nature as Co-Designer, while identifying the policy and financial levers that serve as Catalysts of Transformative Change to accelerate the movement.

The Path to a Regenerative Future
The climate crisis demands that we move beyond the safety of incrementalism toward the bravery of radical innovation. Living Future 2026 is a vital convening for those ready to lead the transition from a “less bad” built environment to one that is truly restorative. Living Future 2026 is where global visionaries and practitioners unite to bridge the gap between climate policy and regenerative action. By immersing themselves in the wisdom of nature-aligned design and the integrity of healthy materials, attendees gain the essential tools to transform our buildings into catalysts for healing. This is more than a conference; it is where connections are forged and solutions are shared to cultivate a world that gives more than it takes.

Registration & Additional Information
Full conference access includes keynote sessions, workshops, building tours, networking events, and receptions. Registration rates and details are available now:

About Living Future
Living Future is a global nonprofit transforming how we design, build, and inhabit the world. Programs like the Living Building Challenge, Zero Carbon Certification, and Declare help professionals across sectors prioritize equity, regenerate ecosystems, and create communities that give more than they take.

The post Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson Announced As Living Future 2026 Keynote: A Blueprint for Climate Wayfinding first appeared on Living Future.

Portland, OR — Changemakers gathered last week (May 6-8) for the 19th annual Living Future conference, hosted by Living Future, a nonprofit transformation engine and member-driven organization at the forefront of the global movement toward regenerative design practices that support a living future for all. 

“Beyond fellowship and learning, we are here for deliberate and collective movement building,” said CEO Lindsay Baker, opening the event. “This has always been part of our mission, but now it is gravely important.” The convening comes 100 days into a new US administration that has sought to dismantle federal support for climate action (and much more). 

Baker shared the story of how, in the past 30 years, the green building movement gave rise to a thriving industry. “We created an industry from a movement of people who wanted to see changes in how buildings were built and managed and how products were made,” she said. “But recent changes have shaken our industry — not just the economic uncertainties but also the support of the federal government. This is a pivotal and critical time for us all to step forward into this movement work with clarity, intention, and commitment to collective action.”

Baker announced that Living Future is advancing an ambitious plan to decarbonize the supply chains of the built environment (and reduce industrial emissions), despite the anticipated loss of federal grant funding. To accelerate this critical work, the organization is seeking contributions to its Resiliency Fund to support R&D efforts that will expand the Declare program and Living Product Challenge. The goal: to introduce a phased, impactful recognition system across three key product attributes—Health, Environment, and Equity. Manufacturers will begin by demonstrating transparency in any one area and build from there. Products that achieve the highest standards across all three will earn the distinction of a Living Product.

Highlights from Living Future 2025 

The conference celebrated and explored a range of transformative ideas, projects, and innovations shaping the future of the built environment, including: 

• Community-Centered Development in Portland’s Albina Neighborhood: Project leaders introduced one of the nation’s most ambitious community-driven redevelopment initiatives. Attendees generated ideas for this active, equity-focused project. 
• Indigenous Leadership and Methods: Danny Desjarlais, leader of the Lower Sioux Hemp Program and Housing ProjectCHK/LINK, spoke about the effort to create healthy, stable housing and jobs in Native American communities. 
• Biobased Building Materials: Christian Benimana, Senior Principal and Co-Executive Director of MASS Design Group highlighted the untapped potential of biobased materials in advancing regenerative, locally sourced, and low-carbon construction.

Just ahead of the conference, Living Future launched a new member portal designed to deepen engagement and collaboration within the movement.  Built environment professionals are actively encouraged to join the community.  

About Living Future

The International Living Future Institute is driving the urgent transformation of the building industry toward a future that is regenerative, resilient, and just. It offers actionable, accessible, and evolving tools and resources that empower a growing community of practitioners and changemakers to accelerate this shift. With a bold goal for 2030, Living Future envisions regenerative practices becoming the standard in how buildings are designed, constructed, and operated around the world. Through continued innovation, strategic growth, and a deep commitment to accountability, Living Future is catalyzing industry-wide progress. Realizing this vision will require collective action—individuals and communities using their unique voices to shape a built environment that supports both people and planet.

Media Contact

Anjula Duggal

International Living Future Institute

anjula.duggal@living-future.org

The post The Living Future Community Steps Up Collective Action for Regenerative Practices first appeared on Living Future.

The International Living Future Institute (Living Future) is honored to have been selected to support the Inflation Reduction Act’s efforts to decarbonize the built environment. As announced by the U.S. EPA in July, Living Future was one of the 38 grant recipients selected to receive part of the federal government’s $160 million investment to “report and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products.” With the support of this grant, Living Future will deepen its industry collaborations to assess the environmental performance of building materials and streamline the specification of more climate-friendly options. 

The built environment is a major contributor to planetary warming. It’s estimated that buildings and construction account for 37% of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions and, according to the EPA, “construction materials used in buildings and other built infrastructure account for more than 15% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.” Living Future recognizes that the built environment community can also play a key role in securing a safe and healthy future, integrating resilience and emissions-drawdown strategies into all design, construction, and operating decisions.

Through its building programs, Living Future promotes a multi-pronged approach that addresses both embodied and operational carbon reduction. Once seen as a nearly insurmountable challenge, these programs are now utilized by the largest architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms, multiple Fortune 500 companies, major global universities, and innovative developers. These clients are building corporate offices, laboratories, multi-family residences, retail spaces, warehouses, and some of the most innovative projects around the world aligned with Living Future standards.

To scale the decarbonization of buildings, one area that needs greater attention is the ability of owners and project teams to easily specify climate-friendly products and materials. Thankfully, Living Future has a roadmap to address this need. 

Since 2012, Declare has helped disclose ingredients and translate complex material health data into accessible and actionable information. More than 370 manufacturers, ranging from small craft producers to Fortune 500 corporations, currently participate in Living Future’s building materials programs. They publicly disclose ingredient information down to 100 parts per million and screen against our Red List, ensuring a commitment to human and ecological health. The free Declare database boasts nearly 1,500 labels representing 16,000+ products, and is visited by approximately 100,000 people annually. This platform facilitates easy specification of products that contribute to healthy indoor environments and align with various rating systems, including the Living Building Challenge, LEED, WELL, and Enterprise Green Communities.

Slated to receive $4.7 million over five years from the EPA grant, Living Future intends to leverage the model of Declare to accelerate market transformation of climate-friendly products. A new label focused on emissions will include translation and evaluation of environmental product declarations (EPDs) – third-party verified reports of a product’s environmental impacts across its life cycle, such as global warming potential, primary energy use, and ozone depletion potential. Living Future views this as a crucial step to drive the widespread adoption of EPDs and to motivate manufacturers to continue investing in optimized environmental performance.   

“We are designing this label program to help accelerate EPD adoption in our industry,” says Lindsay Baker, CEO of Living Future. “We know that distilling data and making it digestible to design teams and owners will empower them and move the market.” 

Living Future plans to work with partners and stakeholders to develop industry-aligned technical requirements and structure for the program, as well as grow awareness and action in the community. One such partner is mindful MATERIALS (mM), a non-profit that aligns the building industry around a common language, clear market signal, and connected data to drive demand for material transparency and optimization. Living Future’s new label will align with mM’s Common Materials Framework, which organizes more than 650 relevant sustainability factors into five sustainability topics. CEO of mM, Annie Bevan says, “We are thrilled to partner with Living Future to accelerate towards a world where extensive, verified EPD and other sustainability data is digitized and flowing — and supporting project-level decisions and scaling the holistic impact reduction of the built environment.”

A manufacturing partner, Armstrong World Industries, makes ceiling and wall systems. Anita Snader, the company’s Senior Sustainability Manager, says, “Our company is committed to offering feedback to guide the development and be an early adopter to pilot the new label. We believe Living Future has proven to be highly successful at meaningful market transformation.”

Selections are contingent upon completion of legal and administrative requirements and grantees are tentatively expected to begin receiving their funding in Q4 2024.

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ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL LIVING FUTURE INSTITUTE

The mission of the International Living Future Institute (Living Future) is to cultivate a society that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. To do this, the organization envisions a living future and shows that it works better in practice and policy. Living Future is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is needed to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Living Future’s programs have shaped more than 55 million square feet of real estate development across the United States and around the world. Learn more at http://www.living-future.org.

MEDIA CONTACT
Kira Gould | kiragould@kiragould.com

The post Living Future Tapped For EPA Grant to Expand Materials Program first appeared on Living Future.

The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) Zero Carbon Certification offers organizations a valuable tool to demonstrate credible climate action. Certified buildings are third-party verified after a 12-month performance period to be energy efficient, combustion-free (or actively phasing out combustion), powered by renewables, and built with lower embodied carbon than typical buildings. Launched in 2018, ILFI’s program is considered the leading performance-based certification program for embodied and operational carbon in the real estate sector. The current version of the certification is geared toward new construction and major renovation projects.

Now, ILFI is advancing the research and the standard, and they are collaborating with four industry-leading companies to help make it happen. Amazon, JLL, JPMorgan Chase, and Prologis are providing support and expertise as ILFI develops the next version of the program, including the addition of a certification pathway for existing assets. 

With support from these companies, ILFI is developing new guidance, including explicit guidance for existing building assets seeking certification without undertaking major capital projects. With greater applicability for more projects, the program update will drive further adoption of the market toward lower carbon buildings and operations. Through this collaboration, ILFI will extend its certification program to apply to existing assets, further accelerating credible decarbonization efforts in the real estate sector.

“This project represents a critical step forward for the building decarbonization movement,” says ILFI CEO Lindsay Baker. “We are thankful to be working with leading companies to craft these clear and rigorous pathways to achieve meaningful climate action.  With the new standard, we aim to accelerate change and enable large-scale adoption and impact, and rise to the challenge that the UN Paris Agreement calls for. As noted by the Buildings Breakthrough announcement at COP28, the adoption of clear carbon accounting and verification methods is critical to transforming our industry. This work is urgent and possible. We are proud to be embarking on this project with our corporate supporters and in alignment with other certification and standards organizations around the world.”
 

Amazon

“Amazon is proud to support ILFI in updating their verification program to include guidance for existing buildings,” said Chris Roe, Amazon’s Director of Worldwide Environment, Carbon. “There are few sustainable building certification options that focus on decarbonizing existing buildings, and we see ILFI’s new program as important for the industry and for companies such as Amazon as we work toward meeting our Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.”

JLL

“Based on our research, we know that 80% of existing office buildings will still be in use in 2050, presenting a critical need for us to focus on decarbonizing our current portfolio and supporting our clients in meeting their goals,” said Erin Meezan, Chief Sustainability Officer at JLL. “There are multiple pathways to make buildings more sustainable and meet net-zero goals, and this new certification will increase transparency and accountability around decarbonization efforts. We’re thrilled to collaborate with such esteemed partners and contribute our industry expertise to an initiative that will accelerate action across the commercial real estate industry.”

JPMorgan Chase

“We are proud to have worked with ILFI over the past two years on our Zero Carbon pilots, including the world’s first Zero Carbon Certified branch. JPMorgan Chase is now considering Zero Carbon standards alongside other sustainability and responsible design practices for many of our upcoming retail and corporate projects,” said Raymond Quartararo, Managing Director, Head of Global Design and Construction, JPMorgan Chase. “We have long been an advocate for advancing more scalable standards, and with this new effort, we can do so in a way that advances the real estate sector’s decarbonization journey while supporting the communities and customers we serve.”

Prologis

“Decarbonizing our industrial real estate portfolio is both a challenge and an opportunity to drive meaningful climate action at scale,” said Susan Uthayakumar, Chief Energy and Sustainability Officer at Prologis. “By collaborating with ILFI and other leading businesses, we aim to establish new guidance to help companies achieve verifiable carbon reductions for new and existing buildings. This partnership will help our customers in their sustainability journey as well as help Prologis reach our net zero goals by 2040.”

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ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL LIVING FUTURE INSTITUTE (ILFI)

The International Living Future Institute’s mission is to cultivate a society that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. To do this, the organization envisions a living future and shows that it works better in practice and policy. ILFI is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is needed to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the natural world. ILFI’s programs have shaped more than 55 million square feet of real estate development across the United States and around the world. Learn more at http://www.living-future.org.

MEDIA CONTACT
Kira Gould

kiragould@kiragould.com

The post Scaling Progress: The International Living Future Institute Announces Strategic Collaboration with Four Major Companies to Advance Carbon Verification in Buildings first appeared on Living Future.

April 24, 2024, Atlanta, GA – From May 7 through 9, the International Living Future Institute will host its 18th annual Living Future conference in Atlanta, marking the first time that the event has been held in the Southeast region of the US. “We are excited about this for many reasons,” says ILFI CEO Lindsay Baker. “There is great work going on in the Southeast,” she says. “There are lessons that we can learn from the communities who are realizing equity, health, and climate gains in the region.” The day before the conference, ILFI will host a materials summit with mindful Materials at which key stakeholders will share progress and next steps towards a future where regenerative materials, products, and environments are the norm. 

The Living Future event has often tapped into cultural shifts and innovative practices. This year, the keynote lineup includes: 

• Heather McTeer Toney is an attorney, environmentalist, speaker, and writer. She was the first Black, first female, and youngest mayor elected in Greenville, Mississippi, at age twenty-seven. In 2014, she was appointed by President Barack Obama as regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Southeast Region.
• Marquise Stillwell, Founder of Openbox, is a designer and a catalyst for building communities and products across design, art, and culture. With a practice spanning across two decades, Marquise Stillwell’s journey began with a curiosity for people and spaces that later developed into a passion for designing systems that make all environments better for everyone.
• A Regenerative Revolution Panel will explore G.O.A.T. Living Buildings (some of the greatest, and largest). James Ball, Director of Buildings at Greenbiz, will moderate a conversation with Kate Turpin, Director, Design Performance + Real Estate Development at Google, Chris Roe, Director of Worldwide Environment + Carbon, Amazon, and Heather Henrikson, Chief Sustainability Officer at Harvard University. This is about setting new standards and redefining boundaries of scale and ambition in the realm of regenerative development. 

Introducing Just 3.0

ILFI’s Just label program has been engaged by more than 350 organizations since its launch in 2014. Just® is an innovative social justice and equity label for all types and sizes of organizations. The program provides a simple, transparent framework for organizations to reveal much about their operations, including equitable treatment of employees and where they make financial and community investments. ILFI also transparently posts the detailed information in ILFI’s publicly viewable database. Early next month, following a rigorous development process with multiple stakeholders, ILFI debuts Just 3.0. 

The evolution of the Just program has been driven by shifts in the global landscape, an enhanced comprehension of social justice issues, insights from technical advisors, and experiences of participating organizations. Since Just 2.0 launched in 2019, ILFI has identified gaps based on both new research and user experience feedback from Just organizations. This is also an opportunity to reframe the program to emphasize continuous improvement and the fact that growth is not always linear. Finally, a full program update provided the chance to reflect learning and progress around “what good looks like” based on ILFI’s current understanding of justice and equity in organizational contexts.

The Story of a Special Organization, Community, and Project

On May 7, ILFI’s publishing arm, Ecotone, releases its latest book, Healing Ground, Living Values: Stanley Center for Peace and Security, about the Muscatine, Iowa, adaptive reuse project whose owners are seeking Living Building Certification (at this writing, they have earned Ready Designation, the step before Final Audit on the path to certification). Author Justin R. Wolf tells the story of the organization; its community, Muscatine, Iowa; and its new headquarters. The project team included Neumann Monson Architects, Graham Construction, Design Engineers, Raker Rhodes Engineering, Biohabitats, Environmental Consulting & Technology, Integrated Eco Strategy, and others. 

About the project, Lori Ferriss, architect, engineer, educator, and leader with Architecture 2030 and Climate Heritage Network, says: “This transformative project demonstrates that building reuse is not only a climate imperative, it is an opportunity to create spaces of delight, celebrate heritage, and regenerate ecosystems and neighborhoods, all while achieving the highest aspirations of environmental and social stewardship. It exemplifies that with enough creativity, a strong collective vision, and a dedication to doing the right thing, even the most unassuming existing building can become a beacon for a better future.” 

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ABOUT the International Living Future Institute

The International Living Future Institute’s mission is to cultivate a society that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. To do this, the organization envisions a Living Future and shows that it works better in practice and policy. The Institute is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is needed to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The Institute’s programs have shaped more than 55 million square feet of real estate development across the United States and around the world. Learn more at http://www.living-future.org.

ABOUT Healing Ground, Living Values

The eleventh publication in the Living Building Challenge Book Series, Healing Ground, Living Values details the story of the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, and of the enterprising people and city that helped make it what it is today. This book details how the Stanley Center organization and its design partners – beginning with Neumann Monson Architects – went about the arduous and unique challenge of adapting a 1970s-era public library building into a fully regenerative and accessible home for the nonprofit operating foundation. It further documents how the integrated project team approached various logistical and design challenges related to site ecology and hydrology, urban agriculture, embodied emissions, equity and inclusion, and other critical considerations en route to realizing this future Living Building in America’s heartland.

Media Contact: 

Anjula Duggal
International Living Future Institute
anjula.duggal@living-future.org

The post Living Future 2024 Conference: Compelling Keynote Speakers, Updated Standards, and a New Book first appeared on Living Future.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. A comprehensive update will be provided once we have successfully addressed the matter with Microsoft. If you have questions, including how to ensure receipt of emails from ILFI, please reach out to IT@living-future.org and provide a valid phone number for our team to follow up with you.

The post Update about Microsoft Outlook first appeared on Living Future.

In an unprecedented collaboration of leading organizations dedicated to sustainable building practices and impact reduction in the built environment, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and mindful MATERIALS (mM) have joined forces to align around the Common Materials Framework, which establishes for the first time a common language for holistic material sustainability in the building industry.

In a standing-room-only event at the 2023 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, held this year in Washington, D.C., leaders from the five organizations presented “Building Alignment: The Role of Project Certifications to Drive Impact” to shed light on the critical importance of aligning their efforts to advance materials sustainability, transparency, and optimization in the construction and design industries.

“Materials have remained one of the toughest sustainability puzzles to solve. Partly, that’s because their impacts are so diverse and global — and because so many entities impact material choices from design to installation,” says Alex Muller, VP of Strategy at mindful MATERIALS. “But it’s also been a confusing world to wrap your arms around. Every organization defines product sustainability differently and asks for different pathways or labels to meet the same objectives — safe, sustainable, and socially just materials. So it’s not surprising we’ve made less progress than we’d want. That’s all about to change thanks to the Common Materials Framework — and the commitment from these organizations to find meaningful alignment on holistically sustainable materials.”

The Common Materials Framework, whose first version was completed in 2021, acts as a ‘Rosetta Stone’ for product sustainability, translating diverse product standards and disparate data points into consistent categories of impact: Human Health, Climate Health, Ecosystem Health, Social Health + Equity, and Circularity. The AIA Materials Pledge first articulated these impact ‘pillars’ and are now widely recognized in the building industry. By doing so, it allows any organization, data platform, standard, designer, or manufacturer to have a common and comparable foundation for their work.

“It’s not overstating anything to say these are some of the most influential groups in the built environment where sustainability is concerned. The announcement at Greenbuild represents years of collaboration and months of direct conversation. To have everyone up on the stage together, speaking in the same language and with the same urgency about aligning like ‘no more talk, this is it’ — I mean, wow, that was powerful and something I have been hoping to see my entire career,” says Annie Bevan, CEO of mindful MATERIALS.

IWBI announced its commitment to map existing material features in WELL to the CMF, conduct a gap analysis to inform new possible CMF-aligned WELL beta features, and explore ways to support similar alignment with its Works with WELL licensing program.

“We’re thrilled to be locking arms with like-minded organizations to help realize a shared vision for better materials,” says Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO of IWBI. “By working together and leveraging the Common Materials Framework, we are not only creating greater alignment across industries, we are also seizing an opportunity to accelerate progress toward healthier and more sustainable materials.”

USGBC announced plans to consider the CMF organizing principles for its much-anticipated LEED v5, which is available to review in draft for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance now. Draft Versions of Building Design & Construction and Interior Design & Construction will be launched next year and include a multi-attribute, holistic approach to sustainable materials.

“USGBC embraces collaboration across industries to elevate the benchmarks for the built environment,” says Peter Templeton, President and CEO at USGBC. “By championing sustainable materials, we not only curtail energy, water, harmful ingredients, and waste in manufacturing but also mitigate impacts during distribution, transportation, and future phases of use, reducing carbon emissions while also safeguarding health and environmental quality. The Common Materials Framework offers an opportunity for our industry stakeholders to standardize terminology and speed the uptake of sustainable products. We look forward to collaborating with this effort going forward.”

After adopting the five pillars more than three years ago, AIA offered a sneak peek into its process to build out actionable next steps for the over 250+ AIA A&D Materials Pledge signatories. The CMF will be used to build clear metrics that will help track the adoption of holistic materials selection among AIA’s 96,000 members. 

“AIA is committed to supporting the architect’s ability to create a zero carbon, equitable, healthy, and resilient future through the power of design,” says Lakisha Ann Woods, CEO of AIA. “We are excited to move the A&D Materials Pledge beyond aspirational language and into action and implementation. Our members will now be able to benchmark their projects amongst their peers and track their years of progress, similar to our tracking in the AIA 2030 Commitment Program. The industry’s alignment around the CMF will allow AIA and our industry to speak the same language when discussing materials selection in the built environment.”

As ILFI prepares for the release of the next versions of its market-transformative programs — Declare, the Living Product Challenge, and the Living Building Challenge — Materials Director Mike Johnson called for urgent action in support of holistically sustainable and regenerative design and manufacturing and shared that the organization will leverage the CMF to ensure that its standards are industry-leading and aligned.

“ILFI is dedicated to helping the world define what good looks like for the built environment and to empowering communities around the world to respond to the urgent social and environmental issues of our time,” says Lindsay Baker, CEO of ILFI. “This collaboration of the world’s leading healthy building organizations will help us rapidly scale up our beneficial work.”

This collaboration and alignment between the AIA, ILFI, IWBI, USGBC, and mindful MATERIALS creates a powerful synergy, says Bevan. One she believes will propel the building materials industry forward.

“By leveraging the CMF, we will finally establish a common language and a shared foundation for materials data and sustainability standards,” says Bevan. “It’s hard to overstate how deeply this has been needed to align our respective missions, accelerate impact reduction, and reward the manufacturers working hard to meet so many different standards. This Framework and this leadership will allow us to come together and align our momentum for greater impact. I’m incredibly excited for what comes next.”

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About the Common Materials Framework

The Common Materials Framework (CMF) is the outcome of the most detailed cross-stakeholder industry effort to date to analyze and organize over 100 of the most common building product and material certifications and disclosures. 

The CMF gives structure to over 650 relevant sustainability factors identified within these programs. Those factors are organized within the five buckets of health and sustainability referenced across multiple stakeholder materials pledges, including the AIA A&D Materials Pledge. By mapping the underlying data and organization of those Pledge statements, the CMF allows signatories of those pledges to navigate and demonstrate achievement on their public commitments. 

Once digitized, the CMF will act as a smart filter, allowing practitioners to search for sustainable products at any depth. mindful MATERIALS’ intention is that the CMF will work seamlessly across all leading building and material databases and technology platforms, ensuring a consistent foundation of information wherever material decisions are made.

About mindful MATERIALS, Inc.

mindful MATERIALS’ mission is to reverse the embodied impacts of the built environment by driving the use of regenerative and restorative building products that meet an industry-aligned framework for health, sustainability, and resilience, the Common Materials Framework.

mindful MATERIALS furthers its mission through a global cross-sector collaboration hub to develop and drive adoption of the common materials framework, which is digitized through its curated digital materials library and connected to industry tools, resources, education, and advocacy for the greater benefit of all.

To learn more about mindful MATERIALS and the Common Materials Framework, visit mindfulmaterials.com.

About American Institute of Architects

Founded in 1857, AIA consistently works to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. Through more than 200 international, state, and local chapters, AIA advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public well-being.

AIA provides members with tools and resources to assist them in their careers and business as well as engaging civic and government leaders and the public to find solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation, and world. Members adhere to a code of ethics and conduct to ensure the highest professional standards.

About International Living Future Institute

The International Living Future Institute’s mission is to cultivate a society that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. To do this, the organization envisions a Living Future and shows that it works better in practice and policy. The Institute is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is needed to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The Institute’s programs have shaped more than 55 million square feet of real estate development across the United States and around the world. Learn more at http://www.living-future.org.

About International WELL Building Institute

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the world’s leading organization focused on deploying people-first places to advance a global culture of health. IWBI mobilizes its community through the administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL) and WELL ratings and certifications, management of the WELL AP credential, the pursuit of applicable research, the development of educational resources, and advocacy for policies that promote health and well-being everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.

About U.S. Green Building Council

Since 1994, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has been at the forefront of defining what it means to design, construct, and operate green buildings and communities. Through the development of LEED,  the world’s most widely used green building rating system, USGBC is committed to a sustainable,  prosperous future through LEED, the leading program for green buildings and communities worldwide.  Our vision is that buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation. Our mission is to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built,  and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life. 

Media Contacts

American Institute of Architects
Katie Jacobs
katiejacobs@aia.org 

International Living Future Institute
Anjula Duggal 
anjula.duggal@living-future.org 

International WELL Building Institute
media@wellcertified.com

U.S. Green Building Counci
Deisy Verdinez
dverdinez@usgbc.org 

mindful MATERIALS
Jen Levisen
jen.levisen@mindfulmaterials.com

The post The Building Industry’s Long-Awaited Signal first appeared on Living Future.

SEATTLE, WA — Climate Pledge Arena and the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) today announce that the arena has achieved Zero Carbon Certification.

The certification is awarded to buildings that are energy efficient, can demonstrate a significant reduction in carbon footprint and offset the remaining embodied carbon and energy use through high-impact offset programs. Climate Pledge Arena is the first arena in the world to receive this certification and completes the bold promise Oak View Group, Amazon and the Seattle Kraken made when they announced the arena name in June 2020.

“Our Zero Carbon Certification recognizes highly energy efficient buildings that are designed and operated to fully account for their carbon emissions impacts,” said ILFI CEO Lindsay Baker. “All operational energy use must be offset by new on- or off-site renewable energy and all embodied carbon emissions associated with construction and materials must be disclosed and offset. This is a significant undertaking, especially for as large and complex a project as Climate Pledge Arena. We are thrilled to see the arena become the first arena to achieve this.”

“In the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Oak View Group, in partnership with the Seattle Kraken and Amazon, set the most audacious sustainability goal ever in the sports and entertainment industry – to build the first arena to be net zero carbon. Despite remarkable obstacles, today we celebrate this achievement for Climate Pledge Arena and the entire industry,” commented Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group. “Climate Pledge Arena’s ILFI Zero Carbon certification should be an inspiration to every future arena project worldwide because we now know anything is possible, and this is so incredibly necessary.”

“Every day we work towards our Climate Pledge commitment of reaching net-zero carbon by 2040, and the arena’s ILFI certification demonstrates the progress we can make when Climate Pledge signatories work together,” said Kara Hurst, Vice President of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon. “I’m proud of the teams who have worked together to bring the world’s first official net zero carbon arena to life, and I’m excited for sports and entertainment fans to continue to experience all the arena has to offer.”

ILFI, a leading non-profit organization dedicated to advancing sustainable building practices, reviewed documentation and required twelve consecutive months of performance data to ensure it meets the certification requirements of the net Zero Carbon standard.

The arena is home to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, WNBA Seattle Storm and the best in live entertainment. In accordance with the zero carbon certification, the arena eliminated all planned natural gas uses from the building and converted them to all electric, including the building heating system, the Zamboni and the dehumidification system.

“Since the construction process began, Climate Pledge Arena has set a real milestone for the sports and entertainment industry and this certification is proof of what can be accomplished with passion and determination to lower climate change impacts,” added Jason F. McLennan, Principal, McLennan Design and OVG sustainability consultant. “I’m incredibly proud of the team and this accomplishment.”

A key feature of the building certification program is that 100% of the energy used by the arena must come from renewable energy sources. To help achieve this the arena installed an array of solar panels on the roof of the atrium and on the adjacent parking garage. To complement the electricity generated by the arena’s solar panels, the Arena and Amazon have purchased and retired more than 100,000 MW hours of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), some of which are from Puget Sound Energy’s Lower Snake River wind farm. The Arena has also pledged to be one of the first commercial customers for Seattle City Light’s Renewable Plus program, a program structured to provide renewable energy for the arena, which is projected to be available in 2025.

The arena went beyond the zero carbon certification to introduce additional sustainability measures including offering free public transit with every game or event ticket and eliminating fan facing single use plastics.

The Climate Pledge, announced in 2019 by Amazon and Global Optimism, calls on signatories to be net zero carbon across their businesses by 2040—a decade ahead of the Paris Climate Agreement. In securing the naming rights of the historic arena in June 2020, Amazon named it Climate Pledge Arena as a regular reminder of the importance of acting to fighting climate change.

To learn more about Climate Pledge Arena visit www.ClimatePledgeArena.com.

About the International Living Future Institute

The International Living Future Institute is an environmental NGO committed to catalyzing the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. The Institute is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The Institute operates the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most advanced, holistic performance standard for buildings. It is a hub for many other visionary programs that support the transformation toward a living future. Learn more at www.living-future.org.

About Climate Pledge Arena

Climate Pledge Arena, located at Seattle Center, is the complete redevelopment of an historic landmark, originally built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. The arena is home to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, WNBA’s Seattle Storm, and the world’s biggest performers of live music and events. The arena is named after The Climate Pledge, an initiative founded by Amazon and Global Optimism asking global corporations to become net zero carbon by 2040. Climate Pledge Arena has one of the most progressive sustainability programs of any building its size, including being the world’s first Zero Carbon Certified arena. Climate Pledge Arena opened October 19, 2021. climatepledgearena.com

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

About Oak View Group (OVG)

Oak View Group (OVG) is a global sports and entertainment company founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015. OVG’s mission is to be a positive disruption to business as usual in the sports, live entertainment, and hospitality industries. OVG is world-renowned as the leading full service live entertainment and hospitality group, with 11 major new arenas either open or under development including: Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center; UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY; Moody Center in Austin, TX; Acrisure Arena in Greater Palm Springs, CA; and CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD; as well as arena development projects for Anhembi Arena in São Paulo, Brazil; FirstOntario Centre Arena in Hamilton, ON; a New Arena and entertainment district in Las Vegas, NV; a New Arena in Cardiff, Wales; and Vienna, Austria. Co-op Live, the most sustainable arena in the UK will open in March 2024 in Manchester, UK. OVG360 is a full-service venue management, hospitality solutions and venue services company servicing more than 400 arenas, stadiums, performing arts centers, culture institutions and convention centers world-wide. More information at OakViewGroup.com, and follow OVG on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.

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The post CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA IS FIRST ARENA TO ACHIEVE INTERNATIONAL LIVING FUTURE INSTITUTE’S ZERO CARBON CERTIFICATION first appeared on Living Future.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Buildings are beacons for change in their communities, according to the main message from Living Future 2023 held on May 3-5. Convened by the International Living Future Institute, the annual event gathered the regenerative building movement to chart a path forward for the real estate sector. Despite significant progress, buildings remain responsible for nearly 40 percent of carbon emissions. 

“Buildings have the power to change minds and culture, but creating change one building at a time is too slow, leaving too many people behind.” noted Lindsay Baker, CEO of the International Living Future Institute in her opening address. “We must act like a movement, using Living Buildings as inspirations to make change around them.”  

With a theme of “Advocacy and Belonging,” the event focused on the need for a movement to change policies shaping building design, construction and operation.

Baker highlighted the organizations working with the Institute, including Amazon, ARUP, Gensler, Google, Harvard University, Humanscale, JLL, J.P. Morgan Chase, Kohler, Microsoft, MillerKnoll, Mohawk, Perkins&Will, and Skanska. These companies understand the threats facing humanity and have made commitments in line with the Paris Climate Agreement to address them in short periods of time. It is those commitments that bring these organizations, and many others, to the Institute’s doorsteps for help achieving the goals. 

“Businesses that care about climate change need to make sure their voices are heard by policy makers,” Baker emphasized. 

Erin Meezan, Chief Sustainability Officer of JLL – a global real estate services company with offices in 80 countries – reflected on a quote she read that, “all the stories that we know were written for a climate that no longer exists.” Discussing the technical language typically used about climate change, Meezan added, “We need to tell stories of climate resilience in a way that pulls people in, so we can find the passionate people, bring them together, identify actions and let them go change the world.” 

Continuing the theme of movement building, Peggy Shepard – Co-Founder and Executive Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Co-Chair of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council – emphasized that, “We can build healthy communities by organizing and engaging the most effective community residents in environmental decision making.”

Nina Albert, Commissioner, Public Buildings Service at the General Services Administration also delivered a keynote address. 

Even as Living Future 2023 focused on movement building and policy change, there was also time to celebrate “Living Future Heroes” who show courage, outstanding achievement, and act as “exceptional troublemakers.” Elizabeth Olivia Torres Rodríguez (posthumous), Matthew VanSweden, Lisa Goodwin Robbins, Miguel Quiñones, Kathleen Hetrick, John Mlade, Zeinab Alameddine, and Jason McLennan were all honored in the 17th annual awards ceremony. 

The Steven R. Kellert Biophilic Design Awards were presented to the Marion Fire Station in Marion, Iowa and De Verwondering, a primary school in Almere, Netherlands. Biophilia means connections to nature, with the awards celebrating projects that promote human health and wellness.

Certifications were announced for 15 new buildings, including the first Living Building in Europe and the first certified affordable housing project under the Living Building Challenge standard. From Alabama to Spain, these projects are each helping to create a new era for the building industry.

In addition, Verandah Living in British Columbia achieved Vision Plan Compliance, which is the first milestone under the Living Community Challenge and supports the coalescence of a community around a common vision.

As Baker noted in her remarks, “to act like a movement, we have to listen to each other, advocate for policy changes, train others, and show up for our communities. With seven years to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement goal of 45 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, we can’t stay just innovators, we must be advocates and innovators as well.”

To continue building a regenerative buildings movement, the Institute is hosting an Affordable Housing Summit on June 20-21.

About the International Living Future Institute

The International Living Future Institute’s mission is to cultivate a society that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. To do this, the organization envisions a Living Future and shows that it works better in practice and policy. The Institute is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is needed to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The Institute’s programs have shaped more than 55 million square-feet of real estate development across the United States and around the world. Learn more at http://www.living-future.org.

Contact:

Brad Kahn
brad@groundworkstrategies.com 
+1-206-419-1607

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Header photo by Jessica Yurinko Photography

The post ACTING LIKE A MOVEMENT: LIVING FUTURE 2023 INSPIRES ACTION FOR CHANGE first appeared on Living Future.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – APRIL 20, 2023

SEATTLE – As demands for equitable action on climate change grow more urgent, four world-class leaders have joined the International Living Future Institute’s Board of Directors. While each individual brings their own mix of talent and commitment, collectively they share a deep and abiding passion for addressing climate change, justice and health by transforming the built environment. 

The four new board members are Mark Chambers, recently of the Biden-Harris Administration and currently a leader at Earth Alliance, Heather Henriksen, Harvard University’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Julie Hiromoto, Principal at HKS, and Adrianna Quintero, a long-time energy and equity advocate.

“These phenomenal leaders join our organization at a pivotal moment, as we mobilize a community working towards a common vision on the biggest challenges of our time,” said Lindsay Baker, CEO of the International Living Future Institute. “We’ve shown that a regenerative future is possible in hundreds of ways; now – with our board’s inspiration and leadership – we will make it the norm.”

Over the past decade, the Institute has served as an incubator for more than 180 regenerative buildings that have achieved certification. Individually, these examples cause ripples that show what’s possible. Collectively, they envision a regenerative future.

Mark Chambers is a national environmental policy leader, advocate for social justice and licensed architect inspired by public service and lessons of collective action. Chambers recently joined Earth Alliance, a startup organization focused on accelerating the intersection between climate action and culture. Before that, he served the Biden-Harris Administration as the first Senior Director for Building Emissions and Community Resilience at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

“I’m honored to join this board, because the Institute boldly supports the work of designers everywhere with its understanding of the inherent responsibility that the built environment has to be a source of inspiration, aspiration, and reflection,” Chambers noted.

Heather Henriksen is the managing director of the Office for Sustainability at Harvard University. She has served in this capacity since 2008, advising the President and senior leadership on Harvard’s university-wide sustainability strategy and policy, including its goal to be fossil-fuel-free by 2050 as part of the University’s Climate Action Plan.

“As a leader in sustainable development, the Institute offers natural opportunities to leverage and inform work Harvard is doing to translate research and science into action, with the goal of creating scalable solutions in the built environment for healthier people and a healthier planet,” Henriksen added.

Julie Hiromoto is a Principal and the Director of Integration at HKS, an interdisciplinary global design firm, where she leads efforts to embrace regenerative design. Recently, she represented 95,000 members of the American Institute of Architects in their first delegation to the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland (COP 26). 

“The Institute is pushing our industry towards holistic, regenerative and integrated solutions for the built environment with a community of change agents who bring passion, technical know-how and advocacy to a future where we can all thrive,” Hiromoto said. 

Adrianna Quintero is a prominent thought leader and recognized expert on climate, clean energy, and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the environmental space. She continues to lead efforts to secure a clean and equitable energy future to avert the most devastating impacts of climate change.

“The Institute’s commitment to build a socially just and equitable world through their work with architects, engineers, manufacturers, builders, and others, helps to bring urgently needed solutions to scale,” Quintero stated.

The Institute is excited to welcome these new board members as it also prepares for Living Future ‘23, the organization’s iconic annual event that will be held at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. from May 3-5, 2023.

About the International Living Future Institute

The International Living Future Institute’s mission is to cultivate a society that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. To do this, the organization envisions a Living Future and shows that it works better in practice and policy. The Institute is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is needed to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The Institute’s programs have shaped more than 55 million square-feet of real estate development across the United States and around the world. Learn more at http://www.living-future.org.

For media inquiries, contact: 

Brad Kahn
brad@groundworkstrategies.com | +1-206-419-1607

The post National Leaders in Climate, Health & Justice Join the International Living Future Institute Board of Directors  first appeared on Living Future.