by Brianna Crandall — January 11, 2016—As part of a bold initiative to counter the effects of climate change, the King County Council in Washington state recently voted unanimously to approve its new Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP), laying out a blueprint for concrete, actionable work in the realm of sustainability. The SCAP integrates the Living Building Challenge into its vision for sustainable architecture, by registering 10 new Living Building Challenge Projects by 2020.
The International Living Future Institute believes the county’s ambitious timeline is key to furthering Seattle and the surrounding region as a hub for regenerative design. King County announced its commitment to the Challenge at Seattle’s Bullitt Center, a Living Building that generates more energy than it uses.
According to ILFI, the 2015 SCAP is the first climate action plan from a county government in the United States to integrate the Living Building Challenge into its development plans. The county’s action affirms what the International Living Future Institute has long promoted: reforming architectural standards while improving building codes is an integral part of fending off climate change in the 21st century.
King County’s 10 registered Living Building projects will focus primarily on new construction, with some attention also paid to building renovation. The county is also partnering with multiple cities on the LBC Demonstration Ordinance. The cities of Shoreline and Renton are the first to move forward with an LBC Demonstration Ordinance. The ordinances will incentivize the construction of Living Buildings in those cities.
King County’s GreenTools Program will also be providing support through research identifying mechanisms to ease the development of Living Buildings.
