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The Living Community Challenge for Environmental and Urban Sustainability

Larissa Krinos

Authors:  Larissa Krinos

Faculty Mentor:  Bahar Armaghani

College:  College of Design, Construction, and Planning

Abstract

The Living Community Challenge (LCC) is a green certification program that, unlike most certification programs, is geared toward whole neighborhoods as opposed to singular buildings. Unfortunately, no existing communities have achieved Living Community Challenge certification. Still, there are many neighborhoods utilizing the ideals – known as petals – of the LCC in attempts to become more sustainable. The Living Building Challenge (LBC), the parent certification for the LCC, has seen more success than the LCC and will provide further research on the implications of its criterion. This paper will look at the hypothetical variables of the LCC, the communities trying to achieve these variables, and how elements of it could be used in relation to impoverished communities. Through case studies on groups and individuals attempting LCC and LBC certification, specifically Bend, Ohio and the BLOCK Project, the potential of the research becomes evident. This paper seeks to demonstrate how the LCC could be applied specifically in low-income areas in Gainesville, FL without achieving all the requirements of each petal.

Poster Pitch

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Poster

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9 Responses
  2. Sierra Shepherd

    I love the layout of your poster! The diagrams are great and helpful. So I am curious, would these LLC’s be mandated and put together by private developers, on a community level, or is the goal to have these standards issued by the county and their amenities therein paid by the state?

    1. Larissa Krinos

      Thank you! I think that the most effective solutions have probably come from private developers. There are instances where government funding has been obtained to drive the process, but generally the most successful projects seem to come from motivated citizens or businesses.

  4. Alexandra Nielsen

    Great looking poster, I like that you looked at other communities implementing LCC principles and brought them back to Gainesville, I’m curious, do you think there are any other sites in Gainesville that could implement a majority of the seven petals?

    1. Larissa Krinos

      Hi Alexandra, thanks for the comment! I think that there are many sites in Gainesville that could qualify for LCC, though I didn’t look into those specifically because I was focused on low-income communities. I think that even some student apartments in Gainesville could re-evaluate and attempt to qualify for a few of the petals and easily have the infrastructure for it, they just wouldn’t be motivated to make the financial investment because they wouldn’t make their money back for a couple of years.

  5. Rusini Perera

    Hi Larissa!
    I really love the topic of sustainability in design and architecture so I found your presentation quite intriguing. One question I have is how can this research be presented to people in low-income areas so they can utilize the information?

    1. Larissa Krinos

      Hi Rusini, glad you liked the presentation! I think that the community would have to be eased into it mainly through the cost benefits. The process would have to be adjusted or subsidized so that it’s less risky than it looks currently. It would also have to be done delicately so it didn’t feel intrusive, maybe just some kind of community interest flyer that asks for interest in energy savings?