Certified Case Studies

Living Building Challenge

  • URBAN FRONTIER HOUSE

    Billings, MT


    LBC 2.1

    VITAL STATS PROJECT TEAM PLACE PETAL 01. LIMITS TO GROWTH In the summer of 2008, the Owners were driving through an older, established neighborhood in Billings, Montana looking for an infill lot upon which to build their house. They were hoping to find an undeveloped or greyfield site close to downtown – where they work,…


  • HITCHCOCK CENTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

    Amherst, MA


    LBC 2.1

    The Hitchcock Center for the Environment (HCE) is a recognized environmental education leader known for its innovative, interdisciplinary educational approaches that support a growing body of environmentally literate citizens who are far seeing enough, flexible enough and wise enough not to undermine our natural or social systems of support. When it came time to build…


  • Sustainable Buildings Research Centre

    Sustainable Buildings Research Centre

    Wollongong, Australia


    LBC 2.1

    The Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) is a multi-disciplinary organization that brings together a wide range of researchers to holistically address the challenges of making our buildings sustainable and effective places in which to live and work. The SBRC’s mission is to assist in the rapid decarbonisation of our built environment. The SBRC brings together…


    Building

  • R.W. Kern Center

    R.W. Kern Center

    Amherst, MA


    VITAL STATS Certification Status Living Certified Version of LBC 2.1 Location Amherst, MA, USA Project Area 16,940 SF Start of Occupancy April 2016 Owner Occupied Yes Number of Occupants 36 PROJECT TEAM Owner Hampshire College Project Manager Carl Weber Architect Bruner/Cott & Associates, Inc. General Contractor Wright Builders, Inc. Mechanical Engineer Kohler & Lewis Engineers…


    Building

  • Phipps Center for Sustainable Landscapes

    Phipps Center for Sustainable Landscapes

    Pittsburgh, PA


    LBC 2.1

    Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden’s mission is to inspire and educate all with the beauty and importance of plants, advance sustainability and human and environmental wellbeing through action and research, and to celebrate its historic glass houses. The mission of the organization is evident in the Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL). A restored brownfield is…


    Building

  • HAWAI’I PREP ACADEMY ENERGY LAB

    HAWAI’I PREP ACADEMY ENERGY LAB

    Kamuela, HI, USA


    Conceived as a high school science building dedicated to the study of alternative energy, the new Energy Lab at Hawaii Preparatory Academy functions as a zero-net-energy, fully sustainable building. The project’s fundamental goal is that of educating the next generation of students in the understanding of environmentally conscious, sustainable living systems. The building’s donor, the…


    Building

  • GOOGLE CHICAGO RENOVATION

    GOOGLE CHICAGO RENOVATION

    Chicago, IL, USA


    LBC 3.0

    Google had outgrown its current office space in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, IL. Projecting future growth and increasing employee count, the company decided it needed more square feet of office space. Google leased 350,000 GSF of commercial office space in the West Loop neighborhood from local developer/building manager Sterling Bay. As part of…


    Renovation

  • THE FRICK ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER

    THE FRICK ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER

    Pittsburgh, PA, USA


    LBC 2.1

    The Frick Environmental Center is a Living Building dedicated to experiential environmental education. The new facility and its four-acre site act as a gateway to Pittsburgh’s wooded 644-acre Frick Park, and embody the neighborhood-to-nature ideal that served as inspiration for the Park’s formation more than 90 years ago. The Center exemplifies equity, experiential learning, and…


    Building

  • Etsy Headquarters

    Etsy Headquarters

    Brooklyn, NY


    LBC 3.0

    Etsy envisioned its new global headquarters as an opportunity to instigate change, to set a new standard for sustainable construction and design in a renovation project, and to create a space that reflected its values, especially those related to community, craft, and sustainability. They approached each decision with careful consideration of the long-term health of…


    Renovation

  • Arch | Nexus SAC

    Arch | Nexus SAC

    Sacramento, CA


    LBC 3.0

    Arch | Nexus SAC is an adaptive reuse of an existing one-story structure, located at 930 R Street in Sacramento, California. The prior use of the warehouse/office was converted into a professional office for Architectural Nexus, Inc., an architectural firm with an integrated practice (planning, landscape architecture, interior design) reaching throughout the western United States…


    Building