IMAGINE
IMAGINE a building designed and constructed to function as elegantly and efficiently as a flower: a building informed by its bioregion’s characteristics, that generates all of its own energy with renewable resources, captures and treats all of its water, and operates efficiently and for maximum beauty.
IMAGINE a city block or a college campus sharing resources from building to building, growing food, and functioning without a dependency on fossil fuel–based transportation.
IMAGINE true sustainability in our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, villages, towns, and cities—socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative.
IT’S TIME TO CREATE A LIVING FUTURE AND A WORLD OF LIVING BUILDINGS
CALL TO ACTION
The scale of change we seek is immense, and unless we are able to articulate the vision and chart a clear path, as a society we will never experience the type of future that is possible and necessary for our long-term survival. What is required without delay is a complete reshaping of humanity’s relationship with nature and a realignment of our ecological footprint within the planet’s carrying capacity.
Over the last 30 years, green building has grown to become the most important and progressive trend in the building industry. There have been huge steps forward in the design, construction, and operation of buildings, and yet given the rate of change required to avoid the worst effects of climate change and other global environmental challenges, our progress can no longer move at a merely incremental pace but must accelerate radically.
We invite you to join us so that together we can continue to forge ahead on our path toward a Living Future.
The International Living Future Institute issues a challenge:
To all design professionals, contractors, building owners, and investors to radically transform the way we create the built environment and eliminate any negative impact on human and ecosystem health globally.
To all politicians and government officials to remove barriers to systemic change, and to realign incentives to truly protect the health, safety, and welfare of people and all beings.
To all of humanity to reconcile the built environment with the natural environment into a civilization that creates greater biodiversity, resilience, and opportunities for life with each adaptation and development.
INSTEAD OF A WORLD THAT IS MERELY A LESS-BAD VERSION OF THE ONE WE CURRENTLY HAVE, WE ASK A SIMPLE AND PROFOUND QUESTION: WHAT DOES GOOD LOOK LIKE?
