“We were surprised to see how comparable [our program] is in many of the building types studied, and how in several instances nothing but Living Buildings make financial sense,” McLennan says.
The study found that Living Buildings can cost as little as 4 percent more and up to 49 percent more, with payback periods ranging from as little as two years to as many as 44 years, depending on type and location. For example, the financial argument for Living Building-designed university classroom buildings was very strong, particularly in the temperate climate zone: a 4 percent to 9 percent cost premium and a two- to three-year payback period.
As might be expected, Living Building single-family residences have some of the highest cost premiums and the longest payback periods, with the lowest cost premiums (26 percent to 31 percent) occurring in the temperate climate zone and the shortest payback periods (22 years to 27 years) occurring in the cool climate zone. For homeowners planning to stay in their homes for two or more decades and willing to accept longer payback periods, the Living Building Challenge rating system could make sense. Multifamily residential buildings performed similarly in the study.
The full results of “The Living Building Challenge Financial Study,” including an executive summary and a matrix of building types, climate zones, cost premiums, and payback periods, are available for download at www.cascadiagbc.org/lbc/resources/financial-study.
Notably, the Living Building concept has already spread outside of the United States, with projects in Canada, Mexico, and France considering following the program. To further promote Living Buildings and the rating system and to serve interested parties globally, Cascadia announced the establishment of the International Living Building Institute during its 2009 Living Future Conference, held May 6-8.
Version 2.0 of the Living Building Challenge is scheduled for release in November 2009. According to McLennan, it will be fully scalable from single-family residences all the way up to neighborhood, campus, and community design.
