Jeffrey L. Davis

Libraries are a key element in community ecosystems. Now imagine a library that actually is an environmental ecosystem of its own. The furthest reaching green building certification uses the metaphor of the flower—thriving within a given habitat by pulling nutrients from the soil, using sunlight for photosynthesis, and depending on the sky for rain—to describe the requirements for its green building program. Each element of the certification is called a petal, and each represents a major part of the eco­system: energy, water, and materials. The International ­Living Future Institute administers the Living Building Challenge.