The Living Learning Center is a 2,900-square-foot facility built to meet the most stringent green building rating system in the world — of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council (CRGBC).

No building has met its standard yet, but the Living Learning Center is in the running to be the first in North America.

According to Eden Brurkman, the center’s director, “The Living Building Challenge is not meant to compete with the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™, which is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

“The Living Building Challenge is instead viewed as an additional outlet to promote the goals set by the USGBC and CaGBC — it establishes a vision for a project’s environmental and social responsibilities from a new vantage point,” Brukman said. “In fact, both national organizations have endorsed Living Building Challenge.”  Washington University News