On Monday, Jan. 30, local sustainability consultant and Living Building Challenge Ambassador Stella Hodgkins will provide an overview of this voluntary building standard, the most stringent of its kind, and how certified buildings achieve net benefits to the natural environment as a free “Green Bag” Lunch-n-Learn. 

Just a few years ago being able to achieve this level of built environment construction might have seemed like science fiction, yet now more than half-a-dozen Living Building Challenge facilities exist. All certified projects meet exceptional green building requirements, such as integrating urban agriculture, preserving natural habitat area, achieving net zero water and energy, managing 100% of generated stormwater on-site, offsetting the carbon footprint, creating an end-of-life materials management plan, including cultural features, providing public education/access and purchasing locally to support the regional economy. The Living Building Challenge is active internationally with over 80 registered projects under way in diverse regions ranging from Hawaii to France. 

The lunch-n-learn runs over the noon lunch hour, from 12:11 to 12: 49 p.m., at the City Administration Building, 30 S. Nevada, in Suite 102. Attendees are encouraged to bring and enjoy their lunches during the presentation. Those who come have the opportunity to win a door prize tote bag made from reused City banners (pictured). 

Each month, the City Office of Innovation and Sustainability sponsors a lunch-n-learn topic on an environmental issue. Questions? Contact City of Colorado Springs Sustainability Coordinator Carrie McCausland, 719-385-CSGN (2746) or cmccausland@springsgov.com.