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About Living Building Leader
The Living Building ChallengeTM is the Cascadia Region Green Building Council's call to the design and construction community to pursue true sustainability in the built environment. Imagine a building that generates all of its own energy with renewable non-toxic resources, captures and treats all of its water, and operates efficiently and for maximum beauty. Now imagine an industry ready to design and construct such buildings: Living Buildings!
The Living Building LeaderTM program consists of a series of intensive, advanced eLearning sessions in green building topics, taught by experts in the diverse fields that underpin the multidisciplinary field that is green building.
Who should enroll
Intended for the green building practitioner, the goal of the Living Building Leader program is to outfit professionals with the technical and leadership skills needed to create Living Buildings. Professionals in the rapidly maturing field of green building will find the depth and breadth of content contained in Living Building Leader sessions useful for both providing critical knowledge needed to actualize green buildings, as well as a powerful way to distinguish themselves in the field.
Note: This is an advanced program intended for professionals with previous applied experience with green building. Please see registration for details on expected knowledge level.
How it works
The Living Building Leader program engages architects, engineers, interior designers,
landscape architects, green consultants and contractors in the six Petals of the Living Building Challenge and provides the tools and technical training necessary to pursue Living Building status. These sessions, taught by experts in their respective fields, provide the conceptual underpinnings, direct practical knowledge and critical personal and organizational skills to create transformational building types.
Participants may attend a single session, independently craft their own learning experience, or aim for full Living Building Leader designation by completing the required 36 Living Building Leader sessions. Participants have up to three years to complete the 36 required sessions. (Sessions are offered frequently enough allow for completion in as little as one twelve month period; given work and scheduling issues, it is expected most professionals will complete the coursework in a two year period.) Upon completion of the 36 required sessions, prospective Living Building Leaders will have three months to take a final exam and provide proof of the requisite experience level to receive Living Building Leader designation.
Beyond successful completion of the 36 sessions (defined as earning cumulative score of 70% or better on all exams), Living Building Candidates must demonstrate:
- LEED Accredited Professional status.
- Five years of applied experience in the field of green building (including work as an architect, landscape architect, engineer, contractor, interior designer, or green building consultant).
The curriculum is divided into seven units, each requiring a minimum number of credits. (Each credit is equivalent to three hours of instruction.)
Credit distribution by Petal
| Petal |
Minimum credits required |
| Site | 4 |
| Energy | 8 |
| Water | 4 |
| Materials | 7 |
| Indoor quality | 5 |
| Beauty + inspiration | 3 |
| Process + leadership |
5 |
| Total credits |
36 |
Session locations
To reduce our carbon footprint and that of participants, and to allow for global participation, sessions are offered via a live, interactive eLearning platform. Occasional in-person sessions, such as Pharos workshops, will be offered within the Cascadia region. Past sessions will be offered for download (audit only; these video playback sessions will not count toward Living Building Leader coursework) from the archive section of this site.
Session dates and times
2008 sessions begin in June, with the full complement of sessions offered beginning in 2009. Participants may take sessions in any order. (With a few sessions, sequenced learning is encouraged but not required.) Sessions will be offered on Wednesdays throughout the year, from 9:00 am-12:00 pm Pacific time.
How much?
For Cascadia members (see membership) each session is $75 for the first 100 registrants, and $125 thereafter--so register early! For nonmembers, the cost is $90 and $140, respectively.
The Living Building Leader registration process requires the use of a coupon code to receive the $75 or $90 price for a session. Coupon codes are available on this website, under the specific session page. Please note that if you do not enter the coupon code, you will be charged the higher price.
For 2008 sessions, Cascadia is offering a bundled discount on the fifteen sessions offered this year. The total price is $800 per person, representing a cost of $57 per session.
Cascadia also offers a 10% discount for offices purchasing sessions for three or more staff at one time. Please contact us to receive a discount coupon for the bundled sessions or for multiple staff prior to enrolling in your sessions. The coupons must be applied at purchase.
Note that Cascadia membership is separate from Living Building Community membership; the $15 per session discount applies specifically to Cascadia members. The 10% multiple employee discount and the bundled discount applies to all. We suggest becoming a Cascadia member to enjoy discounts on both Living Building Leader sessions and Living Building Community membership, as well as discounts on other Cascadia sponsored events, conferences and educational opportunities.
Cancellation policy
Refunds will only be honored if the cancellation is made two weeks prior to the session date. Please note: an administrative fee equivalent to 10% of the purchase price will be assessed.
Cancellations made within two weeks of the session date are not eligible for a refund. If you are unable to attend the event, and the cancellation deadline has passed, you may transfer your registration to someone else (e.g. a colleague).
If you would like to cancel a registration, please contact us.