By Alexander Landa
Seattle is proving once again why it's a city to be taken seriously in the green building industry.
October 7th marked the day that Ed Murray – the mayor of Seattle – signed legislation to continue the Living Building Pilot Program until 2025. This update will allow a total of twenty buildings to participate in this program in Seattle.
This all comes back to Capitol Hill's Bullitt Center – currently the only Living Building in Seattle. The city is pushing for more construction, and green building is making a stronger presence than before, now.
City planners won't have to wonder why they haven't seen any more living buildings, as the pilot program has expanded. In addition to allowing more buildings, the legislation also proposed technical adjustments to 'better align city laws with recent changes in state laws to streamline city buildings codes.' These changes will involve things such as requiring high-efficiency heaters, being ready for solar panels, etc.
Living Buildings are awesome! This emerging topic is picking up a lot of steam now, and it's a good time for you to get involved as well. As part of ABX 2016 November 15th-17th, the USGBC MA Chapter is sponsoring a few sessions. One of these sessions, B04: Living up to the Living Building Challenge: The Owner's Perspective, will cover this topic in great detail. On a related note, we're also sponsoring B68: Designing for Net Positive Water and Energy – a topic that couples well with Living Buildings!
You can also see our full list of sessions we're sponsoring here.
Image and Source 1: Capitol Hill Seattle
Source 2: 3BL Media
PE | Associate, LeMessurier
Vice President, AEW’s Architecture & Engineering group
Interior Designer, Jacobs, Boston
Senior Vice President, Market Transformation and Development U.S. Green Building Council
AIA LEED AP BD+C | Senior Associate, Gensler Boston 
LEED Fellow, WELL AP | Founder and Principal, Ecoworks Studio
LEED AP BD+C | Environmental Sustainability Manager, Armstrong World Industries
Sustainability Director, Steven Winter Associates
Assistant Professor of Exposure Science | Director of the Healthy Buildings program
Managing Director, Harvard University Office for Sustainability
Principal & Director of Certifications and Consulting, Epsten Group, Inc.
Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility, Jamestown
Founder and Principal, Linnean Solutions | LEED AP, O+M; EcoDistrict AP
Associate Principal, BuroHappold Engineering
Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation
Co-Founder, Facilitator at The Laurentia Project | LEED AP BD+C, LFA
Founder and President, Board of the Healthy Building Network
Building Technology Director, Kingspan North America
LEED® AP ID+C, BD+C, USGBC Faculty, WELL® AP, WELL Faculty and Fitwel Ambassador
Workplace Strategy Expert and Researcher, EYP
Principal, Integrated Ecostrategy
Senior Vice President, International WELL Building Institute
AIA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP
Principal, Bruner/Cott
Architect, Associate, and Sustainability Design Leader, Stantec Architecture and Engineering
FAIA, LEED Fellow, Long Green Specs
Products & Materials Specialist, BuildingGreen
Director of Acquisitions and Development
Director of Restorative Enterprise, Interface
Vice President of Sustainable Development, Shaw
Sustainability Manager, Consigli Construction Company
Global Head of Sustainability, Superior Essex