Living Community Challenge
Integrated Communities
The Living Community Challenge is a framework for master planning, design, and construction. It is a tool to create a symbiotic relationship between people and all aspects of the built environment.
The program is a call to action to governments, campuses, planners, developers and neighborhood groups to create communities that are as connected and beautiful as a forest.
NOTE: While the program is no longer taking registrations, we are providing these as reference materials that can provide inspiration and guidance to people interested in the community approach.
Create healthy communities
Living Communities are:
- Nurturing and generous places that promote healthy lifestyles for everyone.
- Net positive with respect to water and energy. Living Communities generate their own energy and capture and treat all the water they need.
- Create a positive impact on the human and natural systems that interact with them.
Featured Case Studies
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A Living City: Bend, Oregon Living Community Pilot Project
Bend, OR
Local partners from the City of Bend worked closely with the Institute to infuse their Central Area Redevelopment with Living Building principles. The project team looked at ways to leverage future redevelopment to reknit an existing district back into the downtown and created a framework for a net zero energy and water community. Download the…
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California State University Monterey Bay
Seaside, CA
California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) is located Monterey County. It occupies a total land area of +1,300 acres (main campus is +600 acres) and occupies the site and some buildings that originally functioned as the Fort Ord military base from 1917 until 1994. The University seeks to transform the campus into a “21st-century setting…
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Emerson Street Community, A Neighborhood Co-Operative
PORTLAND, OR
This project explores how the Living Community Challenge can be used as a tool by existing residential neighborhoods to not only maximize the social and environmental benefits of community redevelopment, but also address some of the inherent challenges: maintaining affordability for existing residents, guarding against gentrification, and minimizing the displacement of homes, businesses, and institutions.…
Petals
Imagine communities that function like a forest ecosystem. The Living Community Challenge is organized into seven performance areas.
Place
Restoring a healthy coexistence with nature.
Water
Creating water independent sites, buildings and communities.
Energy
Relying only on current solar income.
Health + Happiness
Maximizing physical and psychological health and well being.
Materials
Endorsing products and processes that are safe for all species through time.
Equity
Supporting a Just, equitable World.
Beauty
Celebrating plans that purpose transformative change.
Learn About The Challenge
Let’s create communities with resilient infrastructure that benefits all people. View the Living Community Challenge standard to learn about the philosophy behind the framework.