SCALE JUMPING
Scale Jumping is an alternative compliance strategy permitted for some Imperatives. Scale Jumping acknowledges that the optimal scale for solutions can vary based on environmental impacts, costs and community needs. Imperatives that allow Scale Jumping strategy are identified in the Summary Tables of the Living Building Challenge 4.0 and Core Standards, and an explanation of the general concept follows here. Details regarding requirements and criteria for use are provided in the Petal Handbooks.
Scale Jumping allows Imperative requirements to be met offsite by cooperating with the owners of the offsite location(s) in a way that extends the benefits of the Imperative. Scale-jumped land must have at least one of the following two attributes:
- It serves multiple buildings or projects, allowing them to operate in a cooperative state.
- It is outside of the project property and therefore requires cooperation with another property owner.
Generally, projects are encouraged to meet all requirements on their own project site, but Scale Jumping offers flexibility where there is a constraint that makes on-site compliance particularly difficult, or there is an opportunity for additional benefits to the community or ecology.
Figure 5-5 in the Water Petal Handbook provides a useful illustration of Scale Jumping that provides an economy of scale. Another approach to Scale Jumping that resulted in creation of a shared community resource is seen in the case of a new building on a constrained site, in which the owners developed relationships with local organizations to establish 7,100 sf of urban agriculture at three different community gardens to provide not only a source of fresh produce, but also a teaching tool.
Land used as part of Scale Jumping does not typically need to be included within the Project Area. However, remote parking (i.e., parking constructed off-site specifically to serve the LBC project) is not considered Scale Jumping, and therefore is included within the Project Area. Parking that is shared with other projects should be included in the Project Area on a pro-rated basis. Additionally, offsite areas that are owned by the project are not considered part of Scale Jumping and must be included within the Project Area.
Land and system components added for project compliance through Scale Jumping must meet all Imperatives pursued by the project. Scale Jumping proposals must be preapproved through a Request for Ruling to ensure they are compliant.
HANDPRINTING
Handprinting is another compliance approach, allowed in some circumstances, to compliance that involves improvements installed outside the Project Area. The concept of a handprint is related to the concept of an ecological footprint, but where a footprint represents a negative impact, a handprint reflects a positive contribution. The reference point for that positive contribution is Business As Usual (BAU), which is essentially the typical way of doing something or the way it’s been done in the past. A handprint results in an improved condition by preventing or reducing a footprint that would have occurred under BAU, or by creating a positive benefit that would not otherwise have occurred. An example of this idea is installing low-flow fixtures to reduce potable water use at a school in the same watershed as a project that couldn’t achieve its potable water reduction requirement onsite (also see figure 5-4 in the Water Petal Handbook).
Handprinting is permitted as a strategy for all projects pursuing IO6, Net Positive Water when grey and black water treatment cannot be accomplished onsite. It is also available to affordable housing projects for meeting potable water reduction requirements in I05/C3, Responsible Water Use and as a strategy for meeting water supply requirements in I06, Net Positive Water.
More information on specific requirements related to Handprinting for LBC and Core is provided in the Water Petal Handbook. For a deeper exploration of the thinking behind Handprinting, see the LPC Handprinting Guide. Though developed to assist manufacturers apply the concept to the Living Product Challenge, the expanded discussion may also help project teams identify possibilities for buildings.
The area where the Handprinting measure is carried out does not need to be included in the Project Area.
The Difference Between Scale Jumping and Handprinting
While there is overlap in the concepts of Scale Jumping and Handprinting given that both involve meeting Imperative intent by providing benefit outside the Project Area, the principle difference between the two approaches is that while Scale Jumping typically involves relocating offsite a strategy that would be permitted onsite, Handprinting generally adopts a different strategy altogether, providing an offset that occurs offsite to compensate for resource consumption onsite. In addition, the idea behind Scale Jumping is that it allows all parties to benefit from an efficiency of scale, as in the campus example shown in Figure 5-5 in the Water Petal Handbook, and in the Urban Agriculture example cited above that resulted in a new communal asset.
