The purpose of this study, commissioned jointly by City of Vancouver and Clark County, Washington, is to identify and address code and regulatory barriers to the Living Building Challenge for sustainable, affordable, residential development. The study identified six local, green residential projects for assessment against LBC criteria. In addition to contributing two projects for assessment in the study, SERA also served as a sub consultant to Cascadia analyzing the International Building Code, Fire Code, and Mechanical Codes and State of Washington Energy Code and Ventilation codes to determine what sections presented barriers to the LBC.
In report #1: Findings, the team identified fifty unique sections of the code for further review and development. Report #2 of the study included a series of stakeholder meetings to determine solutions to these barriers. In report #3, the cost benefit summary, outlined the costs and benefits of developing projects to the Living Building Challenge level.
The report is available here.
