The UBC Emerging Green Builders LEED and Living Building Challenge Workshop was a 1.5 hour introductory workshop to these two green building systems. Following the presentations given by an architect and engineer, both of whom work everyday with these systems, students were supplied with a site map of two UBC Vancouver Campus buildings. Students were challenged with making these buildings ‘LEED’ and Living Building Challenge Certified. Our mentors worked with these groups to guide their decision-making process, while not giving any answers away.

The workshop reviewed each ‘petal’ of this green building system. Living Building Challenge is more innovative than LEED buildings, as these buildings are net positive . But even with systems as ideal as this, students were able to point out areas that were lacking and need of improvement. For example, under the ‘Materials’ petal, nothing is rewarded for recycling or re-using old materials, only disposing of them in an environmentally-sound manner. Nevertheless, this workshop opened students’ minds to the possibilities and attainability of green building systems such as these.
After working on these buildings, our presenters ‘graded’ each building and revealed what the architects of each building chose to do in reality.
It was great to see undergraduate and graduate students from different disciplines working together to create a sustainable built environment. We hope to encourage these connections in each event, as a systems-approach to sustainability is key.