Frameworks

All projects must avoid building on pristine greenfield, wilderness, prime farmland or in a floodplain unless they meet an Exception. Projects must preserve thriving vibrant ecological environments and habitats.

All project teams must document site and community conditions prior to the start of work, including but not limited to identification of the project’s Reference Habitat.

All projects must demonstrate that they contribute positively to the ecology of their place and restore or enhance the ecological performance of the site toward a healthy ecological baseline. On-site landscape must be designed to mature and evolve, and to emulate the functionality of the Reference Habitat, as appropriate to the project’s Transect.

All project teams must assess cultural and social equity factors and needs in the community and consider those identified needs to inform design and process decisions.

No petrochemical fertilizers or pesticides can be used for the operation and maintenance of the on-site landscape, including urban agriculture.

The intent of this Imperative is to integrate opportunities for connecting the community to locally grown fresh food.

All projects must dedicate a portion of their total Project Area to growing food, or they must dedicate a smaller portion of their total Project Area to growing food and must also directly provide weekly community access to healthy local food that addresses a community need, through farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, or other local food producers.

Scale Jumping can be used as the means to expand the availability of healthy, local food (through agriculture or other means) to a specific population or the community in general via an off-site location such as a food bank, school, or other community resource.

Residential projects must demonstrate the capacity to store at least a two-week supply of food.

All projects must set aside land equal to the Project Area (or 0.4 hectares/1 acre, whichever is greater) away from the project site, in perpetuity, through an approved land trust organization or the Institute’s Living Future Habitat Exchange Program.

The following two compliance pathways are available to meet this Imperative:

• A financial contribution to an approved land trust to purchase and protect an area of land equal to or greater than the area disturbed by the project site; or

• A financial contribution to the Institute’s Living Future Habitat Exchange Program to purchase and protect an area of land equal to or greater than the area disturbed by the project site.

All projects must maintain or increase the density of the site and support a human-powered lifestyle.

All projects (except single-family residential) must also:

• Be built to a human scale that is appropriate for the neighborhood.

• Provide places for occupants to gather and connect with the community.

• Provide sufficient secure, weather-protected storage for human-powered vehicles and facilities, such as showers and lockers, to encourage biking.

• Provide at least two electric vehicle (EV) charging stations or one per thirty spaces, whichever is greater.

• Minimize impervious surface parking to no more than 20% (Transects 1–3), 15% (Transect 4), 5% (Transect 5) and 0% (Transect 6) of the Project Area and ensure that any surface parking area larger than 20m x 30m is separated with planted areas.

AND

• Either reduce single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips and trips by fossil fuel-based vehicles by 30% over an established baseline relevant to the project’s region and occupancy type; or

• Implement at least four of the following best practices:

◦ Consideration and enhancement of pedestrian routes, including weather protection on street frontages.

◦ Advocacy in the community to facilitate the uptake of human-powered and public transportation.

◦ A transit subsidy for all occupants of the building (if owner-occupied) or a requirement for tenant employers to provide such a subsidy.

◦ Carpool coordination assistance.

◦ Access either to subsidized car sharing and/or to hybrid or EV fleet vehicles.

◦ Regular survey of occupants to determine current fossil fuel-based SOV trips.

All projects must not use potable water for irrigation, and use less water for the project’s other needs than a baseline regional building of the same type at the following rates:

• New Building: 50%

• Existing Building + Interior: 30%

Affordable housing projects can use water handprinting combined with project efficiency to meet water savings goals.

All projects must treat all stormwater on site, through natural or mechanical means and without chemicals, and manage all stormwater based on both pre-development hydrology and current ecological conditions, as determined by a qualified professional.

All projects on a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) system, or in a floodplain (based on an Exception), must incorporate stormwater detention and avoid sheet flow off the site.

All projects must supply one hundred percent of the project’s water needs through captured precipitation or other natural closed-loop water systems, and/or through recycling used project water, and all water must be

purified as needed without the use of chemicals. No potable water may be used for non-potable uses.

All projects must address all grey and black water through on-site treatment and management through reuse, a closed loop system, or infiltration. Projects that are not able to treat and manage on site may use handprinting within their watershed and community.

Scale Jumping strategies are allowed with some limitations. For example, connecting to a community or municipal facility is allowed only if the facility treats waste to tertiary levels, reuses or infiltrates all water in balance with the watershed, and has a biologically based treatment process with no chemicals. For all Scale Jumping, pump energy must be accounted for through renewable energy sources.

All projects must incorporate a resilience strategy to provide drinking water for up to a week for all regular building occupants through water storage on site.

All projects must achieve a reduction in total net annual energy consumption (after accounting for on-site renewable power), as compared to a typical existing building with comparable climate, size, use, and occupancy, and combustion must be limited as per the attached table.

All projects must meter energy used by the project.

New and Existing projects must demonstrate a twenty percent reduction in the embodied carbon of primary materials compared to an equivalent baseline. Existing buildings may count in-situ primary materials against the required twenty percent.

All projects (except Landscape + Infrastructure) must select interior materials with lower than industry average carbon footprint for product categories for which embodied carbon data is readily available.

All projects must be designed to be “zero ready” through strategies such as designating area(s) and/or preinstalling wiring and connections for both electric vehicle charging and future installation of renewable energy systems.

All projects must supply one hundred and five percent of their project’s energy needs through on-site renewable energy on a net annual basis, without the use of combustion.

All projects (except single-family residential) must sub-meter major energy end uses.

All projects must account for the total embodied carbon emissions (tCO2e) from construction (including the energy consumed during construction) through the utilization of carbon-sequestering materials and/or through a one-time carbon offset purchase through an ILFI-approved carbon offset provider.

All projects must develop and incorporate a resilience strategy to allow the building to be habitable for one week, or otherwise participate in support for the local community in a disaster, through the use of batteries, storage, etc.

All projects must:

HVAC Criteria

• Comply with the current version of ASHRAE 62, or international equivalent.

• Provide direct exhaust for kitchens, bathrooms, and janitorial areas.

Smoking Criteria

• Prohibit smoking within any buildings or enclosed spaces, and within 25’ of any building opening, including air supply vents.

HIEP Criteria

• Develop a Healthy Indoor Environment Plan specific to the project’s building type and location. The plan must address cleaning protocols, the prevention of particulates and toxins through an entry approach and implementation of at least one strategy to improve air quality.

To promote good indoor air quality performance, all projects must:

• Provide the results from an Indoor Air Quality test one to six months after occupancy, or provide readings from an ILFI-approved continuously monitored indoor air quality system.

• Comply with the CDPH Standard Method v1.1-2010

(or international equivalent) for 90% of interior building products that have the potential to emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Oceania-manufactured and distributed products may conform to these VOC thresholds https://support.living-future.org/article/795-19-0715-v3-x-air-quality-testing-in-oceania

• Implement a cleaning protocol that uses cleaning products that comply with the EPA Safer Choice label (or international equivalent, such as Globally Harmonized System [GHS]).

All projects must provide access to views and daylight from 95% of regularly occupied spaces and opportunities for those occupants in the remaining five percent of regularly occupied spaces to move to compliant spaces for a portion of their day.

In addition, all projects must provide at least two of the following:

• Sufficient operable windows to provide natural ventilation for at least six months of the year.

• Ability for the occupants to influence their local airflow and temperature through direct input or controls.

• Flexible options for working and learning such as sit/stand options and/or varied sensory experiences for living, working or learning.

All projects must connect people and nature through the provision of sufficient and frequent human nature interactions in both the interior and the exterior of the project to connect the majority of occupants with nature directly.

All projects must complete a post-occupancy evaluation that addresses the health benefits of the project including the benefits of daylight, fresh air and access to nature at least once within six to twelve months of occupancy.

All projects must positively impact the building products market by meeting the following materials selection criteria:

• The project must contain one Declare label product per 200 square meters (sm) of gross building area, or project area, whichever is smaller, up to twenty distinct products from five manufacturers. All other product manufacturers not currently in Declare must, at a minimum, receive a letter requesting they disclose their ingredients and identify any Red List content.

• All projects (except residential) must incorporate one product certified under the Living Product Challenge.

• 50% of wood products must be FSC, salvaged, or harvested on site either for the purpose of clearing the area for construction or to restore or maintain the continued ecological function of the site. The remainder must be from low risk sources.

• 20% or more of the materials construction budget must come from within 500 kilometers of the construction site.

• The project must divert 80% of the construction waste material from the landfill and provide dedicated infrastructure for the collection of recyclables and compostable food scraps during occupancy.

All projects must avoid the following Red List chemical classes in 90% of the project’s new materials by cost. In situ materials do not need to be removed or vetted for Red List chemical classes.

Small electrical components must be compliant with the regulations of the European Union’s Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive 3, 2015.

Miscellaneous hardware which is a single component or very simple assembly, that requires no on-site assembly are not required to be compliant with the Red List.

Wet-applied products (including coatings, adhesives, and sealants) applied on site must have VOC levels below the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule 1168 for Adhesives and Sealants or CARB 2007 Suggested Control Measure (SCM) for Architectural Coatings.

All projects must advocate for:

• The creation and adoption of third-party certified standards for sustainable resource extraction and fair labor practices for extraction of rock, metal, minerals, and timber.

• Certification under the Natural Stone Council (NSC) 373 Standard by quarries and/or manufacturers of all dimension stone products used within the project.

All projects must either source 80% or more of all wood, by cost or volume, as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, or as salvaged, or from the intentional harvest of on-site timber for the purpose of clearing the area for construction or restoring/maintaining the continued ecological function of the on-site bionetwork, and the remaining 20% of wood must be from low-risk sources. Alternatively, the project may achieve FSC Project Certification.

All projects must contain one Declare product per 100sm of gross building area, or project area, whichever is smaller, up to forty products, and advocate to all manufacturers that are not in Declare that they register their products in the Declare database.

All projects (except residential) must incorporate one product certified under the Living Product Challenge per 1,000sm of gross building area or project area, whichever is smaller, up to three products.

The project must incorporate place-based solutions and contribute to the expansion of a regional economy rooted in sustainable practices, products, and services.

Manufacturer location for materials must adhere to the following restrictions:

Exception 17-1114

Because of Australia's remote location, Australian projects may adhere to the following I13 Living Economy Sourcing requirements (all distances are from the project location):

20% or more of the materials construction budget must come from within 2,000 kilometers.

An additional 30% of the materials construction budget must come from within 5,000 kilometers.

An additional 25% of the materials construction budget must come from within 9,000 kilometers.

25% of materials may be sourced from any location.

Consultants must come from within 2,500 kilometers of the project location.

All currently approved remote distances are shown in the attached table. Teams should make every effort to source locally and advocate for more local production in their region, but Due Diligence documentation is not required to use these expanded zone distances.

All projects must strive to reduce or eliminate the production of waste during design, construction, operation, and end of life in order to conserve natural resources and to find ways to integrate waste back into either an industrial loop or a natural nutrient loop.

All projects must feature at least one salvaged material per 500 square meters (sm) of gross building area, or be an adaptive reuse of an existing structure.

All projects must create a Materials Conservation Management Plan that explains how the project optimizes materials in each of the following phases:

• Design Phase, including the consideration of deconstruction and appropriate durability in product specifications.

• Construction Phase, including product optimization and collection of waste materials for reuse or recycling.

• Operation Phase, including a collection plan for extra consumables and durables.

• End of Life Phase, including a plan for adaptable reuse and deconstruction.

All projects must divert waste material from the landfill to the levels in Table 16-1 (by weight or volume) during construction.

All project types must provide dedicated infrastructure for the collection of recyclables and compostable food scraps.

Projects located on sites with existing infrastructure must complete a pre-building audit that inventories available materials and assemblies for reuse or donation.

All projects must make all primary transportation, roads, and non-building infrastructure that are considered externally focused (e.g., plazas, seating, or park space) equally accessible to all members of the public regardless of background, age, and socioeconomic class—including the homeless—with reasonable steps taken to ensure that all people can benefit from the project’s creation.

Projects in Transects L3–L6 (except single-family residences) must provide for, and enhance the public realm through design measures and features that are accessible to all members of society, such as street furniture, public art, gardens, and benches.

All projects must safeguard access for those with physical disabilities through designs meeting the Principles of Universal design (United States Access Board), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) Accessibility Guidelines; or an international equivalent.

No project may block access to, nor diminish the quality of, fresh air, sunlight, and natural waterways for any member of society or adjacent developments. Projects must also appropriately address any noise audible to the public.

• Fresh Air: Projects must protect adjacent property from any noxious emissions that would compromise its ability to use natural ventilation. All operational emissions must be free of Red List, persistent bioaccumulative toxicants, and known or suspect carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reprotoxic chemicals.

• Sunlight: Projects must demonstrate that shading of adjacent buildings will not result in significant negative impacts to a majority of the occupants of those buildings.

• Natural Waterways: Projects may not restrict access to the edge of any natural waterway, except where such access can be proven to be a hazard to public safety or would severely compromise the function of the project. No project may assume ownership of water contained in these bodies or compromise the quality of water that flows downstream. If the project’s boundary is more than sixty meters long parallel to the edge of the waterway, it must incorporate and maintain an access path to the waterway from the most convenient public right-of-way.

All projects must have a JUST label for at least two project team organizations with an integral role in decisions during both design and construction phases, and an additional five organizations involved in the project must complete a JUST Self-Assessment.

In addition, all projects must either:

Include diverse stakeholders from vulnerable or disadvantaged populations in the design, construction, operations and maintenance phases at the following levels:

• 20% of design contract and/or construction contracts, and 10% of maintenance contracts must be with JUST organizations that meet required levels for Diversity category, or are registered Minority, Women, or Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (MWDBE) organizations, or international equivalent.

• Workforce development/training/community benefits agreements, registered apprentice programs, and similar programs are employed for 10% of the General Contractor’s project contracts and/or maintenance contracts.

Or

• Donate 0.1% of total project cost to a regional, community-based nonprofit organization focused on equity and inclusion.

Projects must be designed to include elements that nurture the innate human/nature connection. Each project team must engage in a minimum of one all-day Biophilic Design Exploration of the biophilic design potential for the project. The Exploration must result in a Biophilic Framework and Plan for the project that outlines strategy and implementation ideas for the following:

• How the project will be transformed by deliberately incorporating nature through Environmental Features, Light and Space, and Natural Shapes and Forms.

• How the project will be transformed by deliberately incorporating nature’s patterns through Natural Patterns and Processes and Evolved Human-Nature Relationships.

• How the project will be uniquely connected to the place, climate, and culture through Place-Based Relationships. The project must meaningfully integrate public art and contain design features intended solely for human delight and the celebration of culture, spirit, and place appropriate to the project’s function.

The Framework should include a record of the Exploration day and goals for the project, as well as historical, cultural, ecological, and climatic studies that thoroughly examine the site and context for the project. The Plan must contain methods for tracking biophilia at each design phase to ensure sufficient implementation of the Framework.

All projects must provide:

• A Living Building Challenge Case Study.

• An annual open day for the public.

• A copy of the Operations and Maintenance Manual.

All projects (except single-family residential) must:

• Provide a simple brochure describing the design and environmental features of the project.

• Install interpretive signage that teaches visitors and occupants about the project.

• Develop and share an educational website about the project.

• Include one Living Future Accredited Professional on the project team.