by Shane Henson — August 13, 2012—A group of Australia’s leading green building practitioners recently announced the creation of the Living Future Institute Australia (LFIA), a visionary hub for restorative programs and actions within Australia that will focus on providing training, support and innovative international programs to Australian professionals.
LFIA will also promote global environmental ideology such as the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge as a strategy for bringing the modern built environment into alignment with the ecosystems it inhabits. The Living Building Challenge calls for the creation of building projects at all scales (from single-room renovations to whole communities) that operate as cleanly, beautifully and efficiently as nature’s architecture. To achieve certification, a project must meet 20 rigorous imperatives (including net-zero energy, waste and water) over a minimum of 12 months of continuous occupancy.
According to LFIA, more than 140 projects are now pursuing the challenge worldwide, including four in Australia. But, as the Australian Institute’s leaders note, each project has a ripple effect throughout the building industry.
“The Challenge is an incredible tool for rethinking everything about how our buildings are designed, created and operated,” notes Warren Overton, chair of LFIA. “What is particularly powerful about this strategy is that it changes the way people think about the built environment. Building inhabitants become active stewards of their own environment. Materials manufacturers question the chemicals they’re using in their products. Project teams collaborate at unheard-of levels. With the Living Future Institute Australia, we will be able to support the Challenge and other far-reaching programs more effectively.”
