What if a holistic approach to design and construction was applied to make our communities a healthier place?

Security Properties is proposing a deep green building design that will meet the Living Building Challenge (LBC) building standards, which is considered one of the world’s most rigorous performance standards for sustainable construction. Certification is based on actual data not just modeled or forecast building performance.

For the Magnolia site, we are proposing the following LBC performance areas:

• Energy Conservation: reduction of the building’s energy consumption by 25% below current energy code requirements and no fossil fuels for heating water or interior spaces.
• Water Conservation: treatment of non-potable water on site for toilets, urinals, cooling towers, irrigation and hose bibs. Non-potable water is water that is not drinking, cooking or bathing quality but can be used for other purposes. The project team is in the due diligence phase, exploring how groundwater, captured rainwater, and/or graywater from showers, lavatory sinks and clothes washers can be used on-site for water conservation.We recently learned that due to our water conservation measures, this building will use 33% less water annually than a traditional, non-Living Building. That is 1.1 million gallons of water which is enough to fill-up the Pop Monger Pool nine times in one year.
  
• Biophilic Design: incorporation of site design elements that connect the community, shoppers and residents with the outdoors and nature. Benefits of biophilic design include reducing stress and honoring the connection to the adjacent park and natural spaces.
• Healthy and Intentionally Sourced Materials: use of products that are locally sourced and not ‘Red Listed’. Avoiding the use of Red List chemicals and materials (persistent in the building industry) helps fight pollution and protect human health.
• Holistic Design: design cues will be weighted to create environments that optimize physical and psychological well-being while also integrating features that inspire beauty. For those who are familiar with LBC, the performance areas chosen for this project are: Materials, Beauty, Health and Happiness.