INTENT
The intent of this Imperative is to allow equitable access to and protections from any negative impacts resulting from the development of Living Building projects.
REQUIREMENTS
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.
CHANGES FROM LBC 3.1 TO 4.0
Two changes have been made to the requirements of this Imperative. First, Universal Design has been added as a requirement in addition to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) Accessibility Guidelines. Projects located outside the United States are still allowed to comply with an international equivalent. Second, the requirements related to ensuring that the LBC project does not block access to sunlight for adjacent development have been altered to allow site-specific compliance pathways that take into account surrounding density, neighborhood layout, and the programming of adjacent buildings.
