Structures so green they give back to the environment

In 2006, the Cascadia Region Green Building Council created the Living Building Challenge. The LBC goes beyond LEED to create 16 standards for buildings to meet, all or nothing. Living Buildings are designed to contribute to the health of our planet, to help filter the air we breathe and the water we use, and help make the energy we need. These are stringent requirements, but if we are to continue building on this planet we need a new design paradigm, we need to try harder, and go beyond the minimum requirements of LEED and other ratings systems.