A Visionary Path to a Regenerative Future.
Executive Summary: Creating A Regenerative World Together
OUR GOAL IS SIMPLE. IN THE WORDS OF BUCKMINSTER FULLER— TO MAKE THE WORLD WORK FOR 100% OF HUMANITY IN THE SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME THROUGH SPONTANEOUS COOPERATION WITHOUT ECOLOGICAL OFFENSE OR THE DISADVANTAGE OF ANYONE.
The Living Building Challenge is an attempt to dramatically raise the bar from a paradigm of doing less harm to one in which we view our role as a steward and co-creator of a true Living Future. The Challenge defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment today and acts to rapidly diminish the gap between current limits and the end-game positive solutions we seek.
The Challenge aims to transform how we think about every single act of design and construction as an opportunity to positively impact the greater community of life and the cultural fabric of our human communities. The program has always been a bit of a Trojan horse—a philosophical worldview cloaked within the frame of a certification program. The Challenge is successful because it satisfies our left-brain craving for order and thresholds, and our right-brain intuition that the focus needs to be on our relationship with and understanding of the whole of life.
As such the program is a philosophy first, an advocacy tool second, and a certification program third. Within the larger Living Future Challenge framework that covers the creation of all human artifacts and edifices, the Living Building Challenge focuses on humanity’s most abundant creations—its buildings. It is in essence a unified tool for transformative thought, allowing us to envision a future that is Socially Just, Culturally Rich and Ecologically Restorative.
Regardless of the size or location of the project, the Living Building Challenge provides a framework for design, construction and the symbiotic relationship between people, our community, and nature. The Living Building Challenge calls for action to restore the relationship between people and nature in an increasingly urbanized world as we become more and more disconnected from the world with which we evolved. It is a challenge to immerse ourselves in such a pursuit—and many refer to the ability to do so as a paradigm shift.
Projects that achieve Living Building certification can claim to be the greenest anywhere, and will serve as role models in their communities for redefining the future of the built environment. Whether the project is restorative, regenerative, or operates with a net zero impact, it has a home in the construct of the Living Building Challenge.
Contact Gomex to learn more about how we can help raise the bar on your next project.