Learn to Design Living Buildings

Learn about designing Living Buildings with architects Chris Hellstern and Stacy Smedley.  7:00 p.m. UM room 122 Gallagher Business Building.

Did anybody here see this presentation? 
The Living Building Challenge seemed to be LEED to the extreme. Apparently, there are 70 projects in the design/construction phase with the intent of achieving the standard. Only 2 have been completed and have met the certification. The presenters from KMD architects in Seattle provided an overview of the many 'imperatives' to be considered and achieved. For example, a building must create all energy it will use without any combustion and a building must collect all water needed and then treat that water before it flows off of the footprint of the property.

The second half of the presentation looked at a case study for an ecological classroom that is being constructed to meet the needs of the school while still meeting the parameters of the Living Building certification.

In summary, I was entertained by the presentation, and I think it is good to set high standards to push the building industry to consider creating efficient buildings that consider source of materials, embodied energy, water use, and other important features.    Any thoughts?

more information on the living building challenge can be found here: http://ilbi.org/lbc/version-2-0

Would love to know how valid the measures are of this (a building creates all its energy--does that include the cost of mining materials to make the solar panels? are we still dependent on foreign solar panels?) and how does a WOFATI in the woods meaure on this? (is there a Paul Wheaton scale for building design too maybe? or a good scale to look at?)

http://www.bnim.com/news/omega-center-sustainable-living-first-green-building-america-achieve-both-leed%C2%A9-platinum-and-li

THe six criteria:

six performance areas, or “petals,” including
site,
energy,
materials,
water,
indoor quality, and
beauty and inspiration.

I don't know what"site" means, I don't know if "materials" is production of materials or just non-toxicity of them, I don't know what "indoor quality" means. Help me?

Thanks geniuses