eColI bR I u M • MAY 2012 40

F E A T U R E

Q &A: Jason McLennanAs founder and chief executive officer of the Living Future Institute, Jason McLennan oversees a rating system referred to by some as the world’s most stringent. Described as a “philosophy, advocacy tool and certification program” that addresses development at all scales, it is comprised of seven performance areas: site, water, energy, health, materials, equity and beauty. Ecolibrium editor Matt Dillon spoke to McLennan during his recent visit to Australia.

ecolibrium: Can you tell us a bit about history of the living future Institute and the living building Challenge?

Jason Mclennan: The Living Building is an idea that I worked on with some colleagues back in the mid-90s, and it was really to try to define what the future of sustainability and the built environment would be – how we would get there, what it would be like. At that time it was really too early, to be honest. It was prior to the US Green Building Council, prior to LEED, prior to Green Star and it was perhaps too “far out” at that time.

It was more recently, in 2005, that I actually turned this Living Building concept into an actual standard for design and construction, with a particular structure that was designed to be very much unlike Green Star and unlike LEED, to really do a different thing, even though it pre-dated those systems. It was launched at the very end of 2006, by an organisation that I joined called the Cascadia Green Building Council, one of the leading green building organisations in North America. And the program just really took off, the timing was kind of right. We created the Living Building Institute in 2009 in order to respond to

the level of interest that was moving way beyond Cascadia’s traditional reach.

eco: What was the reason for the name change to the living future Institute – is it because it’s not just about individual buildings?

JMcl: That’s correct. [It’s] because we do work on both ends of the spectrum: city-scale and neighbourhood-scale. And we also work on the scale of materials and that kind of thing. We’ve always used the words “building” and “Living Building Challenge” as verbs rather than as nouns. That always takes another level of explanation. We started a conference called Living Future, which was all about bringing together the leading thinkers who are really trying to transform society, civilization, the built environment, and create a living future. We realised that that marketing was perhaps better than

“living buildings”. So the program is still the Living Building Challenge, but it is a program of the Living Future Institute, which does other things.

eco: that’s actually not that long – 10 years from total non-acceptance to (where you are now)?”

JMcl: Look at the rise of Green Star and LEED. I worked on the first LEED pilot projects, and that was back in ‘99. The firm I worked with before was one of the founders of the movement in the United States, so we helped create the system, or test the system.

I had two of the first 10 LEED projects. I was a project manager, 20 per cent of the whole LEED portfolio was sitting on my desk – it was kind of funny. But that was 1999 through to 2000, and just a few years later there were LEED projects everywhere. There was a huge shift from

The proposed Bullitt Foundation headquarters in Seattle.

Jason McLennan

41MAY 2012 • eColI b R I u M

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Eco3 - March 12.indd 1 24/04/2012 10:11:39 AM

in the mid-90s, when my colleagues and I would talk about sustainability and people would laugh – openly laugh – and think that we’re silly, just a bunch of tree-huggers smoking something. It was considered a fad, the fringe, not serious, it’ll pass, just not a trend that will have any legs … and that was in the mid-90s.

eco: does it surprise you that there’s still a difference between sustainable architecture and widely accepted architecture? Why isn’t all architecture green?

JMcl: Because, you just said it – it’s only been a decade. We’ve gone through the first stage of any transformation, which is awareness. And in terms of real green building, most of the buildings that

are getting called green now are thinly veiled conventional buildings – mildly better performers. But if we’re talking about it and thinking about it … green is not mainstream practice yet, it’s just mainstream rhetoric, and that’s the first step.

So the next step is that you have to start raising the bottom in terms of building codes and basic standards and we need to keep pulling from the top, which is what our program does. Then we need programs like Green Star to keep ratcheting things up. And that’s kind of where we are: in that early, early stage. But there is going to be larger societal pressures, economic and environmental, that are going to see much more rapid uptake happen. But the groundwork is there.

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Application Manual HVAC&R MAINTENANCE DA19

••• 51

7.1.6. Equipment

• Maintainallplantandequipmentinaccordanc

ewith

theinstructionsoftheoperating

andmaintenance

manual.

• Followthemanufacturer’spreventativemaintenance

recommendationsforallplantandequipm

ent

providedaspartofthesystem.

• Testallsafetycontrolsandinterlo

cksregularly,atleast

onceayearoratthecommencementofaseasonif

the

plantrequirementisonlyseasonal.

• Havethecalibrationofallpressur

eandtemperature

gaugescheckedatleastonceay

ear.

• Checkallequipmentforundueno

iseandvibration.

• Checkthestockofessentialspare

parts.

7.1.7. Safety and training

Maintainadequatefirstaidfacilities

asappropriatetothe

siteandactivities.

Ensurethatallsafetyandpersona

lprotectiveequipmentis

properlystoredandmaintainedreadyf

orimmediateuseif

required.

Makesurethatallpersonnelcarrying

outmaintenance

activitiesareproperlytrainedfor

thetaskstobe

performed,areawareofthesafetyrequir

ementsandare

fullyadvisedoftherecommendationsofthe

manufacturer

ofeachitemofequipment.

7.2. Maintenance schedules

Maintenanceschedulesforplantan

dequipment

commonlyfoundinHVAC&Rsystemsareprovidedin

AppendixA.Abasicscheduledm

aintenanceprogramcan

bedevelopedfromcompilingtheseindiv

idualschedules

intoasystemprogram.Astepbystepexampleofthis

processisprovidedinAppendixB

.

7.3. Schedule Frequencies

and Tolerances

Thereportingfrequenciesdescrib

edinthisapplication

manualaresuggestedonly.Actualf

requenciesshould

bedeterminedbytheowner,orowner’srep

resentative,

eitherbyspecificationorbyconsu

ltationwiththeservicing

contractorandequipmentsupplier.Syst

emdesigners

shouldprovidecomprehensiverecom

mendationson

maintenanceactionsandfrequenc

ieswithinthesystem

operatingandmaintenancemanual.Maintenance

frequenciesmustbeappropriatetothespecific

application

andtakeaccountofthecondition

sofuse.

Thefrequenciesselectedwilldep

endonfactorssuchas:

• Typeandtechnologyofequipmentinstalled.

• Operatingenvironment.

• Geographicallocation.

• Intensityofuseoftheequipment.

• Prioritygivenfortheequipmenttoremainoperational.

• Seasonaloperationprofile.

Forreasonsofpracticalityandfle

xibilityatimetolerance

forfrequencyshouldbespecified

.Recommended

tolerancesaresetoutinTable7.1.

Table 7.1 Time tolerance for service frequencies

Frequency of scheduleTolerance on time

scheduled

Weekly

Omitfornomore

thanoneweek

FortnightlyOmitfornomore

thantwoweeks

Monthly (4 weekly)Oneweek

Quarterly

(3 months – 12 weeks)Twoweeks

Half yearly (6 months – 24

weeks)

Threeweeks

Annual

(12 months – 50 weeks)Onemonth

Biennial

(24 months – 100 weeks)Onemonth

Triennial

(36 months – 150 weeks)Twomonths

Suchtolerancesarenotapplicabl

ewherespecificstatutory

requirementsorspecificownerinstruction

sstateotherwise.

Maintenancefrequenciesshouldbe

keptunderreview.

Apossibleindicationoftheneed

formorefrequent

maintenancecouldbearepeatingf

ailureprofile.

Maintenancefrequenciescanbeex

tendedifsupportedby

long-termmaintenancerecordsandexperienc

e,orbythe

applicationofconditionmonitoringproced

ures.

7.4. Development of a

typical maintenance

program

Creatingatypicalscheduledmaintenanceprog

ramfor

anHVAC&Rsystementailscompilingthemaintenance

instructionsfromeachrelevanteq

uipmentschedule(refer

toschedulesA1toA39)andallcr

ossreferencedschedules

(refertoscheduleA40)intoasing

lemaintenanceprogram.

Duplicatedandirrelevantitemscanbedeleted

and

frequenciescanbereviewedonc

ethebasicsystemisin

place.AppendixBprovidesastep

bystepmanualexample

ofhowascheduledmaintenanceprog

ramcouldbe

developedforahypotheticalbui

ldingairconditioningunit.

7.5. Trouble shooting

7.5.1. Trouble shooting procedures

Intheeventofanoccupantcom

plaintormonitored

unsatisfactorysystemperformancethecauses

hould

beinvestigated.Itshouldbenote

dthatsymptomsof

theproblemmayatfirstappeartobethecause

anda

systematicapproachtotheinvestigation

isrequired.

Asafirstapproachthefollowings

tepsshouldbe

undertaken:

1. Talktothebuildinguserregardin

g

thespecificnatureofthecomplaint.

2. Listentootheroccupantsofthea

rea.

3. Determineiforiginalcommissioningdatais

available.

4. Determineifmaintenancerecordsareavailable.

5. Reviewdesignstrategyandinten

t.

6. Checkcontrolfunctions.

7. Checksystemandtest.

8. Recordactionsandreportresults

.

Theprovisionordevelopmentofsystemspecific

troubleshootingchartscanaidth

etroubleshooting

process.

7.5.2. Troubleshooting charts

Considerablelabourtimecanbesavedb

ytheuseof

comprehensivetroubleshootingcharts

.Theseareusually

providedbyequipmentmanufacturers.Ins

omecases

purposemadetroubleshootingchartsmayneedtobe

developedfortheequipmentmakingupanHVAC

&Rsystem.

Troubleshootingchartslistthefa

ultsthatcouldoccur,or

beforeseen,duringtheworking

lifeoftheequipment.

Althoughthechartsprovidedby

manufacturersare

generallycomprehensive,itisalwayspossiblefo

r

unforeseenfaultstooccurandth

emaintenancepersonnel

mayneedtorefertheproblembacktothesupp

lier.

Atypicaltroubleshootingchartc

omprisesthreecolumns:

Column 1 symptom

observedfault

descriptionoftroubleexperience

d

Column 2 possiblecauses

probablecausesoftenlisted

Column 3 remedy

actiontorectifyfault

andrestorenormaloperation

Sometimesa“verificationcheck”stepisad

dedtoreduce

thepossiblecausesdowntothe

mostlikelycause.

7.6. Access issues

Accesslimitationsareaproblemcommonlyencountere

d

bymaintenanceserviceproviderswhe

ncarryingout

maintenanceactivitiesinexistingb

uildings.Maintenance

accesslimitationsgenerallycomeintwoforms:

1. Insufficientspaceprovidedtoadequate

lymaintain

theinstalledequipment.

2. Reluctanceorinabilityoftenants

/occupierstoprovide

accesstotheplant.

Bothoftheseissuesneedtober

esolvedformaintenance

tobecarriedoutcorrectly.Whereinsufficientspace

isencounteredbythemaintenanceservi

ceprovider

thisshouldbehighlightedtothe

systemownersand

managers.Allpartiesthenneedto

worktogethertofind

solutionstoimprovemaintenanceaccesstoenablethe

requiredworktobesafelycompleted.

Tenantsandoccupiersneedtob

einformedofthe

imperativesformaintenanceandshouldbeencour

aged

tofacilitateallreasonablereques

tsforaccesstoHVAC&R

plantformaintenance.Ultimatelyitisthesyst

emowners

responsibilitytofacilitateaccesst

oitemsthatmustbe

maintained.

Accessformaintenanceisgenerallyprovided

for

inmostleasesandoccupantsarenorm

allywilling

toprovidereasonableaccessonc

etherequirednotices

havebeenprovided.

7.7. Noise issues

Recommendeddesignsoundlevelsandre

verberation

timesaregiveninAS2107.Guidance

onnoisecontrol

onmaintenancesuitesisgiveninAS2

436.Information

onthenoiselabellingofplantand

equipmentisprovided

inAS3781.Informationonnoisem

easurementisgiven

inAS1055.

DA19 HVAC&R MAINTENANCE Application Manual

••• 20

Application Manual HVAC&R MAINTENANCE DA19

••• 21

Equipment

Economic life (years)

Air conditioning unit – Room type

7 – 10

Air conditioning unit – Split units (up to 10 kW)

7 – 10

Air conditioning unit – Package (10 kW – 100 kW)

10 – 15

Air conditioning unit – Split package (10 kW – 100 kW)

10 – 15

Air handling unit – Proprietary line central station single or multiple zone20 – 25

Air handling unit – Custom built central station

20 – 30

Air filters – Dry media disposable

0.5 – 1.5

Air filters – HEPA

2 – 5

Air filters – Kitchen hood grease filters

3 – 6

Automatic controls and instrumentation

20 – 25

Boilers – Fire tube

15 – 20

Boilers – Water tube

25 – 30

Boilers – Cast iron

25 – 30

Boilers – Finned copper tube heat exchanger

20 – 25

Boilers – Electrode

15 – 20

Chilled beams

20 – 25

Coils – Cooling and heating

20 – 25

Cooling towers

10 – 25

Ductwork and fittings

20 – 30

Damper actuators (VAV controllers)

20 – 30

Electric motors

20 – 25

Electric storage heaters

20 – 25

Electric strip heaters

8 – 12

Electrical final circuits and outlets

20 – 25

Electrical switchgear and distribution equipment

25 – 30

Electrical mains cables

25 – 30

Evaporative air coolers

10 – 20

Fans

15 – 20

Gas convection heater

15 – 20

Generators

15 – 20

Heat exchangers

20 – 25

Humidifiers

10 – 15

Pipework and valves

20 – 25

Pumps

20 – 25

Radiators – Hot water

20 – 25

Refrigeration chillers – Absorption

20 – 30

Refrigeration chillers – Centrifugal

20 – 25

Refrigeration chillers – Reciprocating

15 – 25

Refrigeration chillers – Screw/Scroll

20 – 25

Tanks

20 – 30

Variable air volume – Terminal units

15 – 25

Table 2.1

Economic (service) life of equipment

Note: The above values are given for guidance only. The assumed life of a plant item may vary depending

on the particular project.

Reproduced from AIRAH Handbook, 4th edition)

3.1 GeneralTo allow the maintenance of plant to be carried out quickly

and efficiently it is essential that all of the plant is safely

accessible, all items are identified and all services required

are available. This should have been resolved during the

design and construction period.Maintenance issues need to be considered throughout the

lifecycle of an HVAC&R system. As a guide the following list

of maintenance considerations should be accommodated

during the design, construction and handover stages of a

project.

3.2 Design considerationsAll HVAC&R systems should be designed to be as simple,

reliable and sustainable as possible while being fit for

purpose and providing the required function. This is particularly true of control systems associated with HVAC&R systems.

System designers are best placed to develop the design/

maintenance philosophy for a building or system. The

maintenance philosophy should be developed based on

the maintenance objectives of the owner and the final

design should take full account of the maintenance policy,

refer section 4.The maintainability of plant and systems is an important

determinant in how energy and water efficient the systems

will be over their whole life cycle. Something that is difficult

to maintain and tune will be much less likely to operate

efficiently and as intended than something that is easier to

maintain. Designers should carefully consider the complexity

of the systems they conceive with respect to maintenance

and operating requirements and the maintenance provider’s

ability to properly maintain these services.Maintainability also relates to issues of equipment selection and ongoing maintenance cost and convenience.

Consideration should be given to the standardization of

common components in a new installation, same make/

type of pumps, valves, and the like to reduce the number

and type of spare parts that are required to be held or

accessed. The ability to readily and cost effectively access

spare parts also needs to be considered during equipment

selection to help ensure that the life cycle costs of the

systems are minimized.Similarly consideration should be given to the use of specialist or non-specialist plant and local or exotic plant

origins. The availability of local maintenance knowledge,

equipment (spares), training and support can improve both

system maintainability and sustainability. The use of an

established technology rather than a new technology in a

design may be more appropriate in some cases due to the

unavailability of future maintenance skills and resources.Designers can reduce or minimise future maintenance

by using high quality components (reduced mean time

between failure), by using components or systems requiring no maintenance (passive systems) or by using

duplicate services (run/standby pumps).Designers should consider the commissionability of the

system. Commissionability relates to the extent to which

the design and installation of HVAC&R systems facilitates

system balancing and tuning to required performance.Designers should consider “building in” systems for monitoring and feedback of plant operation into their

designs. Built in monitors can be linked to building management systems and can be associated with future

condition monitoring maintenance strategies.

Maintenance in design, installation and handover

3

Project timeline

Rel

ativ

e co

st

OutlineDesign

DetailedDesign Installation

OperationCommissioningand handover

Figure 3.1 Relative cost of changes during a construction project

APPLICATION MANUAL

HVAC&R MAINTENANCE

Australian Institute of

Refrigeration, Air Conditioning

and Heating

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA

19

— H

VA

C&

R M

AIN

TE

NA

NC

E —

AP

PL

ICA

TIO

N M

AN

UA

L

DA19

Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating

Level 3, 1 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

Tel: +61 3 8623 3000 Fax: +61 3 39614 8949

www.airah.org.au

APPLICATION MANUAL

CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA01

APPLICATION MANUAL

STEAM AND CONDENSATE

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA11

APPLICATION MANUAL

WATER TREATMENT

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA18

APPLICATION MANUAL

NOISE CONTROL

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA02

APPLICATION MANUAL

FANS

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA13

APPLICATION MANUAL

HUMID TROPICAL AIR CONDITIONG

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA20

APPLICATION MANUAL

DUCT WORK FOR AIR CONDITIONING

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA03

APPLICATION MANUAL

AIR FILTERS

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA15

APPLICATION MANUAL

AMMONIA REFRIGERATION

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA21

APPLICATION MANUAL

HVAC&R AN INTRODUCTION

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA08

APPLICATION MANUAL

AIR CONDITIONING WATER PIPING

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA16

APPLICATION MANUAL

WATER SYSTEM BALANCING

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA24

APPLICATION MANUAL

AIR CONDITIONING LOAD ESTIMATION

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA09

APPLICATION MANUAL

COOLING TOWERS

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA17

APPLICATION MANUAL

INDOOR AIR QUALITY

T H E A U S T R A L I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G A N D H E AT I N G

DA26

Application Manuals in this series:

DA01 Centrifugal Pumps – selection and application

DA02 Noise Control in and around buildings

DA03 Ductwork for air conditioning

DA08 HVAC&R an introduction

DA09 Load Estimation and psychrometrics

DA11 Steam – distribution and condensate recovery

DA13 Fans – selection and application

DA15 Air Filters – selection and application

DA16 Water Piping for air conditioning

DA17 Cooling Towers

DA18 Water Treatment

DA19 HVAC&R Maintenance

DA20 Humid Tropical air conditioning

DA21 Ammonia Refrigeration

DA24 Water System Balancing

DA26 Indoor Air Quality

43MAY 2012 • eColI b R I u M

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eco: the living building Challenge is not in competition with leed or green Star or bReAM?

JMcl: Some people like to try to do that, in fact, almost every journalist, because they love the dynamic. And so if you Google our work and you see the articles that are written, at least half of the time the writer has inserted some sort of made-up, antagonistic kind of piece. It’s the “drama sells” and they like to poke holes in whoever the big dog is at the moment – so in the US it’s the US Green Building Council.

but if we’re talking about it and thinking about it … green is not mainstream practice yet, it’s just mainstream rhetoric, and that’s the first step.’

We do push organisations to go further, but really what we’re providing is a different tool for transformation that doesn’t replace other tools like Green Star and LEED. It is another mechanism for change and actually, we’ve found that it encourages people who work primarily in the US and Canada, where LEED is the main paradigm, it actually drives business too.

If the Living Building Challenge really takes off in Australia, I actually think the Green Building Council of Australia will see an increase in their business because we end up making their program look more reasonable. It’s an interesting dynamic. But what our tool does is

inspire people to begin, in a way that a more checklist system doesn’t inspire but is a good way for somebody who is getting into it to get into it.

We have a tendency to inspire people and most of them end up moving straight to Green Star or LEED. They’re not really ready to go there, but now they know it’s there and they want it. And they’ll do everything they can. They would have assumed that 4 star was where they were at, now they’re like, “We’ve got to do 6, we can’t do Living Buildings yet, but we’re going to do 6 star”.

eco: Are you saying it’s aspirational?

JMcl: Yes, it is aspirational, but it is achievable. It’s not just aspirational. It’s not a utopian standard, it’s actually very achievable, but it’s not easy. It requires a very different way of approaching design and construction that requires willingness by all those participating to do it differently.

eco: You’ve said a couple of times that it is a different thing, it’s a different way. Can you give us an example of how it’s different from green Star?

JMcl: I’m not as up to speed on Green Star as I am on LEED, so correct me if I’m wrong, but the Building Challenge is performance- based, not prescriptive, so there’s one difference. It’s actually based on performance that is proven after a minimum of 12 months of occupancy and then it’s audited in person. It’s

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not based on predicted, promised performance, it’s based on actual performance. So there’s another difference.

The Living Building Challenge is meant to be much simpler in terms of its documentation, but it’s much harder to achieve in its implementation. So, for example, our minimum requirement for energy is net-zero energy, so that’s the minimum entry point to get our energy petal. That’s a pretty stringent entry requirement. It’s the same with water, it’s net-zero water.

We’re really judging success in terms of, “What are the criteria that nature would use to judge success of habitat for any other species?” It’s basically asking how do we do that for our habitat, our constructs? At least, in terms of what’s currently possible today.

And then when we run into barriers today, we identify those and we have what we call “temporary exceptions”, which means we need to change the marketplace. That’s primarily around materials, that’s where we have the biggest gap between the way nature makes things and the way we make everything. But in many other places we can go much further than where we go now.

Energy is a good example. In a traditional green building – you might design your building and at the end of the design figure out how much energy it’s using. With the Living Building Challenge you have to start knowing how much energy your site can generate, and that’s your budget. What is the carrying capacity of your site?

The water budget, the energy budget; you need to know that upfront. That’s what you have to figure out how to live within, in an elegant way. If you’re a designer working on the project it’s a very, very different process. It engenders much more collaboration because the engineers, the architects, the developer and the owner have to, from the very beginning, have a level of commitment to performance because they won’t get there, ever, without it.

eco: You talk about the engineers, architects and the design team having to work together. It seems like, even after all this time and talk about integrated design, that there’s still a lot of tension and mistrust between those team members.

JMcl: The tension is there, especially in the beginning as they unlearn the way they have worked together in the past. But we’re seeing some really amazing things, where you have to have the engineer appreciate and be willing to be an architect as well, and the architect has to appreciate and be willing to be an engineer as well. You have to have a more seamless integration between the two.

Right now, integrated design for many people means there were meetings when they were all in the same room at the same time. To get to that net-zero energy, net-zero water, to be Living Buildings-compliant, that [old approach is] just going to fail. And the owner better be there, and maybe the builder needs to be there. It really forces people to think outside the box. We wrote the Challenge to get at those kinds of things.

The Omega Center for Sustainable Living was the first building to achieve LEED Platinum and Living Building Challenge certification.

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The Challenge has implicit and explicit rules. The explicit rules are very simple, there are 20 of them and you need to do them all to be a Living Building. We will recognise leadership projects that get the majority of them, but they’re not Living Buildings. Then there are all the implicit things, like this forced integration that happens with the challenge. That is really kind of where the magic happens.

eco: on the subject of net-zero buildings and zero-energy buildings, I don’t think I’m the only one who is confused about the definition.

JMcl: Well, that’s kind of why there is a certification program. There are a lot of definitions out there and, like anything else, people will try to have as loose a definition for something as they possibly can in order to claim the label – [they think] that’s in their best interest. And it sounds great, but there’s really carbon being emitted and fossil fuels being used. It’s the same with the words “green”, and “sustainable”.

We wanted to wade in and have what we feel is a better definition. It’s onsite, renewable energy generation, no combustion. You also have to consider your impacts on your neighbours in terms of limiting their future energy production. So we don’t allow shading of neighbourhood projects in terms of their rooftops. You have to consider more than your own footprint.

There’s a protocol in our program called “scale jumping” which is this notion that the ideal scale for renewable infrastructure, water treatment and energy generation is going to be highly dependent upon the context -- the topography, the climate and the particular fabric of the community. So we encourage projects to the extent that they can to find this ideal; sometimes it’s district-scale solutions, sometimes it’s single buildings, sometimes its even larger than that: a whole neighbourhood or campus.

So we have a lot of flexibility in terms of those scales but it has to work at any scale, if that makes sense. And if how far you can control is your little piece, it has to meet the requirements. It’s pretty unique that way. It scales pretty well and it travels well because it’s performance-based.

You figure out what’s appropriate for your place and your project, and as long as you meet that requirement that’s the innovation and genius of your solution, and it will be accepted.

eco: What do you mean when you say the living building Challenge can be an advocacy tool?

JMcl: In the States we have some very antiquated water laws – I’m guessing you have some here [in Australia], I know you have some on energy. So the Living Building Challenge is also an advocacy tool, a lot of what we’re preaching in the United States is actually illegal. So we’re asking all these teams to work to change the regulations. We have a process that they petition and go through and try to get pilot exemptions. We’ve had some success in the States to change water laws because of the projects.

The Living Building Challenge sits comfortably alongside a Green Star or LEED. It’s not trying to balance all the needs of all these industries. What we’re really doing is shining a light on the major problems: regulatory, manufacturing, design-related, whatever the case may be. Shine a big light on them and say, “Look, these are the big issues, this is where we need to head now. We actually could get all the way to this point now, and these are the barriers, now let’s go after those barriers any way we can”.

We can start to move things closer and closer to a truly sustainable place, and it works pretty well. That’s why it’s catching on in so many places, which is kind of cool.

It’s an advocacy program with an attitude. And we have an agenda, but it’s a good agenda. And, yes, it’s a certification program and you get this really beautiful plaque to put in your building, but it’s actually in the spirit of the Living Building Challenge, it’s a useful piece. You get a beautiful carved door handle, which has your petals. So the first thing that you touch, on the Living Building, is this beautiful reclaimed wood thing that is useful and it is also your plaque. It’s not just some thing that sits on your wall as eye candy, it’s actually a useful part of the building.

eco: Am I right in saying there’s an aesthetic component as one of the petals? Is that an acknowledgement that green buildings don’t always look very good?

JMcl: Yes. It’s an acknowledgement that we have to have beautiful design, in everything. That everything should be properly considered and there has been a lot of poorly designed, unattractive green buildings that have set back the movement. For a long time – “a long

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time” being the past decade since this issue has taken hold – this whole notion of “good design” has been left out of the equation.

The other thing that we cover that has some relation to this is social justice issues, which are hard to measure. With the Living Building Challenge, another big difference between it and other systems is that it has [impacts that are] highly measurable as well as others where it’s very hard to measure impact - in fact almost impossible to measure. They are right brain/left brain kind of issues and we’re comfortable with the tension of saying, “Look, it’s fine; these are easy to measure and these are the metrics, and this is how you get there and it’s very standard. And these are things that nobody knows how to properly measure but the answer is not zero”.

Just because we can’t measure it well, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have an impact. Let’s elevate the discussion and hopefully we start getting solutions. Solutions where they’re pursuing net-zero energy but they’re actually integrating the [solar array] in to the design, rather than just stuck on the building and it looks like crap and the public thinks that solar is ugly and they don’t want it. And that’s actually really important for the uptake of any idea: people’s acceptance and emotional appeal.

eco: Is biomimicry a part of what you’ve been doing?

JMcl: Loosely. We have been inspired by the biomimicry movement. It’s really something that we talk about in terms of our education. We actually have biophilia, which is different to biomimicry, as one of our 20 imperatives. Biomimicry is a strategy for how you achieve some of our imperatives but it’s more of an implicit one rather than explicit.

eco: one of the criticisms of onsite renewable energy, particularly onsite wind – is that it doesn’t work, it’s green bling, it’s there for looks, it has high maintenance costs. Is it practical in most instances?

JMcl: In most instances, not that we’ve seen. But most cities don’t have great generation capacity. It sounds like Melbourne is one of the better cities for it. We don’t advocate wind, by itself. It’s a great technology to be used where it’s appropriate to be used, if you have the place, but if you don’t – then don’t use it. You don’t get a point for having a wind turbine. We don’t care; [the concern is] renewable energy. So wind could be considered if it’s in an appropriate location for wind generation, then by all means, that’s great. But if not, then do solar, or geothermal. Use what’s perfect for the place that you’re at.

eco: the living future Institute has come a long way since you first tried to get it off the ground in the mid-90s, what about the next 15 years? What would you like to see happen?

JMcl: We want to see Living Buildings in every country in the world. We want to see Living Buildings of every building type that exists. We really think that it will change [things]. Every time one of these projects is built it creates this ripple effect around the project that changes the sense of thousands of people; that changes the building culture and the design culture – it elevates. You have all these other buildings reaching further and faster. We’re going to work harder in the next 15 years. We’re going to see a lot more in Australia. ❚

Would you like to know more?The Living Future Institute is setting up an Australian chapter. For more information go to www.living-future.org