PETAL INTENT
The intent of the Equity Petal is to elevate equity as a project goal and to transform developments to foster a just and inclusive community that enables all people to participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. It is grounded in the belief that a society that embraces and engages all sectors of humanity and allows the dignity of equal access and fair treatment is a civilization in the best position to make decisions that protect and restore the natural environment that sustains all of us.
Disturbing trends toward privatizing infrastructure, externalizing negative social and environmental impacts, and limiting access to nature, which combined with growing income inequality exacerbate polarized attitudes of “us” vs. “them”, and limit full participation in community life for all. Only by realizing that we are indeed all in this together can the greatest environmental and social problems be addressed.
Living Buildings are meant to be accessible and welcoming to all people, helping us recognize and celebrate cultural richness, while ensuring equitable access to fresh air, sunlight, and clean water and soil. The process of designing, building and operating Living Buildings should also have a positive impact in creating jobs and opportunities for inclusion of people who have been disadvantaged, excluded, or discriminated against.
Just, the Institute’s social justice transparency platform for organizations, is a publicly accessible label and online database, and is a core component of the Equity Petal. Just is a powerful tool to help project teams assess their own organizational equity, and to identify and support other organizations that share the values of a socially just and culturally rich living future.
IDEAL CONDITIONS + CURRENT LIMITATIONS
The Living Building Challenge envisions a built environment that is welcoming and accessible, and that enables all people to participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. It is a built environment created by equitable organizations, who lead inclusive design and construction processes.
Current limitations to reaching this ideal stem from ingrained cultural and social attitudes about the rights associated with private ownership and from structural and institutionalized racism and sexism, and widespread discrimination. A clear and concerted effort to address social equity issues is generally absent in most organizations, design objectives, and outcomes, and project stakeholders are usually limited by our ingrained assumptions and attitudes about ownership and rights, further excluding stakeholders in the community who will also be impacted by and could benefit from the project.
