Mon-C3 Biophilic Design: How Living Buildings and Landscapes Enhance Environmental Health

Presented with great success at the 2009 Greenbuild conference, but geared toward landscape architects
for ASLA, this session will explore "a visionary path to a restorative future." The concept of biophilia can
permeate every facet of planning and design, celebrating the regional landscape, ecological restoration,
appropriate horticulture, and buildings that reach out and interact with the landscape. This approach will
allow us to create landscape designs that are far more beautiful, complex, and engaging than either
traditional or sustainable landscape architecture.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Learn the definition of biophilic design and how to implement it in living landscapes
Learn to designing landscapes that serve as learning tools for all stakeholders
Learn the latest trends in biophilia and increasingly elevated sustainability benchmarks

OUTLINE
I. Basics of Biophilic Design: Ways nature can be interpreted in buildings and landscapes
1.
Critical issues to consider
2.
How is biophilia environmentally sustainable?
3.
Exemplary clients and designers doing this today
II. Lessons of Deep Ecology to Implementing Biophilic Design: What creates the biophilic experience?
1.
Organic forms and natural materials
2.
Visual diversity and views to nature
3.
Access to plants, inside and outside
4.
Vegetated roofs and walls
III. Metrics: The Living Building Challenge and Sustainable Sites Initiative: What do these measurements
mean?
1.
Discuss the founding and holistic system of Living Buildings
2.
Discuss the Sustainable Sites Initiative
3.
Examine case studies that exemplify these measuring systems
IV. Working with clients: What does it take to create a biophilic site?
1.
Site conditions and grades
2.
Complexity of design
3.
Understanding the client and the context
4.
Working with the design team

FEATURED SPEAKERS
Nadav Malin, LEED AP+BD&C
President of BuildingGreen, a leading resource to the green building design community, Nadav Malin also
serves as executive editor of the award-winning GreenSource magazine. A long-serving member of the
national LEED faculty, he is a sought-after speaker for USGBC, AIA, and CSI events, and a consultant to
architects and government agencies. In addition, Nadav led the team that created the U.S. Department of
Energys High Performance Buildings Database.
Carol Franklin, FASLA
Carol Franklin, RLA, FASLA, is a founding principal of Andropogon Associates and a nationally
recognized leader in sustainable design. She has worked for more than 30 years to develop sustainable
solutions on her body of work, seeking to see the broader picture and to generate solutions that integrate
historical, cultural, economic, and environmental concerns. Carol served as an adjunct professor in the
Department of Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania from 19722002, and in cultural landscapes in the Department of Historic Preservation. She has written and lectured
on American traditions in art, landscape and architecture.
William D. Browning
Panelist William D. Browning received a BA in environmental design from the University of Colorado and
a MS from MIT. In 1991, he founded Rocky Mountain Institutes Green Development Services. His clients
have included Wal-Mart's Eco-mart, Starwood, Yellowstone National Park, Lucasfilms Letterman Digital
Arts Center, New Songdo City, Bank of America, the White House, and the Sydney Olympics. He has
authored several books, is an honorary member of the AIA, and a founding member of U.S. Green
Building Councils Board. In 2006, he co-founded Terrapin Bright Green LLC, which crafts environmental
strategies for corporations, government agencies and large-scale developments.
Keith Bowers, ASLA
For nearly three decades, Keith Bowers has been at the forefront of applied ecology, land conservation
and sustainability planning. As the founder and president of Biohabitats, Inc., Keith has built a
multidisciplinary organization focused on regenerative designthe blurring of boundaries between
conservation planning, ecological restoration and sustainable design. Keith has applied his expertise to
more than 600 projects throughout North America, spanning the scale from site-specific ecosystem
restoration projects to regional watershed management and conservation planning, to the development of
comprehensive sustainability program. He is a registered Landscape Architect and he holds a B.S. in
Landscape Architecture from West Virginia University.

Learning Objectives
Biophilic Design:
How Living Buildings and Landscapes Enhance
Environmental Health

Learn the definition of biophilic design and how to implement

biophilic design in projects to create genuinely living
landscapes from nationally recognized leaders.

Learn to coordinate effectively with architects and owners, as

well as local, state and federal agencies, in designing
l d
landscapes
th
thatt serve as a llearning
i ttools
l ffor allll stakeholders.
t k h ld

Presenters
William D. Browning
Keith Bowers, RLA, PWS
Carol Franklin, RLA, FASLA

Learn about the latest trends in biophilia and projects seeking

increasingly elevated benchmarks such as the Sustainable Sites
Initiative and the Living Building Challenge.

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Biophilic Design: How Living Buildings and Landscapes

Enhance Environmental Health

LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Criteria for Landscape Design

Carol Franklin, RLA, FASLA

Carol Franklin, RLA, FASLA

SUSTAINABLE SITES (SS)
WATER EFFICIENCY (WE)
MATERIALS and RESOURCES (MR)

William Warner, Architects

Providence River relocation | Waterplace
Providence | Rhode Island

INNOVATION in DESIGN (ID)

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

LEED:

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

LEED: Green Building Design Guide and

and Rating System
Too many projects are labeled green that have significant
environmental impacts and only minor improvements.

LEED Platinum
US GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

The Living Building Challenge Users Guide

2007 Cascadia Region Green Building

The Success of Green Building

The construction market accounts for 14.2% of
the $10 trillion U.S. GDP.

Some Problems of LEED

Source: 2006 DOE Buildings Energy Databook

LEED ratings are primarily for individual buildings

Campuses require LEED certification for every building

The value of green building construction is

expected to exceed $12 billion in 2007.
Source: McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics

Since 2000, U.S. Green Building Councils

membership has increased ten-fold.
Source: U.S. Green Building Council
LEED Certified: 40+ points
Silver 50+ points
Gold 60+ points
Platinum Level: 80+ points
Possible points = 110

ASLA
Annual
Meeting
and EXPO
(new
construction,
etc.

Since 2000, there have been over 1,200 LEED

certified buildings and 9,500 registered; and over
45,000 LEED Accredited Professionals.
Source: U.S. Green Building Council

LEED 2009)

LEED: Failures

LEED Platinum
US GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

Documenting a Platinum building takes

more time and money than lower rating

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

PARTNERS
American Society of Landscape Architects
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
The United States Botanic Garden

SUSTAINABLE SITES (SS)

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

The landscape is only an adjunct of the building

and designed Landscapes from plazas to arboreta
cannot receive a LEED rating without a building

SITES: Sustainable Sites Initiative

same ugly buildings and

non-living landscapes

site selection
development density and
community connectivity
brownfield redevelopment
alternative transportation
public transportation access
bicycle storage/changing rooms
parking capacity
site development
protect/restore habitat
maximize open space
storm water design
quantity
quality
heat island effect
roof
non-roof
light pollution reduction

Results are often conventional

and do not solve environmental issues

U.S. Green Building Council

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
GreenScapes Program
National Recreation and Park Association

LEED Silver
US GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

National Association of County

and City Health Officials
The Nature Conservancy,
Global Invasive Species Team
University of Texas at Austin,
Center for Sustainable Development

LEED Silver
US GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

American Society of Civil Engineers,

Environment and Water Resources

Goals:
Preserve, restore, enhance or create (where
necessary) a landscape that is alive
by reestablishing the ecological processes and
natural systems of a site.
This in turn will:
Provide ecosystem services essential
to sustaining life
Improve human health and well-being
Promote healthy social and cultural
systems on site, which
encourage long-term,
environmentally-literate participants
Lessen a sites carbon footprint

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

SITES: Sustainable Sites Initiative

The Living Building Challenge

Hierarchy of Change
The Living Building Challenge Users Guide
2007 Cascadia Region Green Building Council

Water

Energy

Habitat

Materials

1. Conserve

1. Reduce

1. Preserve

1. Reduce

2.
2 Reuse

2.
2 Renew

2.
2 Protect

2.
2 Reuse

3. Balance

3. Offset

3. Restore

3. Recycle

= Regenerate

= Produce

= Regenerate

= Upcycle

Considers multiple scales of buildingfrom

house to megalopolis
Performance based rather than prescriptive
Simpler documentation
Encourages retrofits
Focuses on removing toxic materials
Requires offset of carbon footprint
Mandates beauty and Inspiration
No credits: must fulfill all prerequisites

All sustainable sites are expected to:

minimize resources transported to the site
minimize materials leaving the site
support viable habitats
promote healthy ecosystems beyond the sites boundaries
replicate natural processes of a healthy reference site
enhance the quality of life of users
act
as a carbon
sink and
regulate and
other greenhouse
ASLA
Annual
Meeting
EXPO gases

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Living Building Challenge

Living Building Challenge

Prerequistes
Responsible Site Selection
Limits to Growth
Habitat Exchange
Net Zero Energy
Materials Red List
Construction Carbon Footprint
Responsible Industry
Appropriate
pp p
Materials/services Radius
Leadership in Construction Waste
Net Zero Water
Sustainable Water Discharge
A Civilized Environment
Healthy Air: Source Control
Healthy Air: Ventilation
Beauty and Spirit
Inspiration and Education

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

A Bioregional Approach to Design

Solutions, strategies, materials and designs
should be informed by the unique Characteristics
of the bioregion.

The Living Building Challenge 2.0

encourages the implementation
of solutions beyond the building
scale to maximize ecological
benefit while maintaining
self-sufficiency.
The Living Building Challenge Users Guide
2007 Cascadia Region Green Building Council

Designers should have different design responses

based on where a given project is located and
take into account local climate as
well as cultural and specific site clues
clues.
As with the rest of the challengehow a
project team does this is up to them
and success is determined by the teams
ability to understand the best response to
place, climate and culture.

1. Cold North

2. Cascadia

Alaska, Yukon Territory, Northwest

Territories, Nunavet, Northern Alberta,
Northern Saskatchewan, Northern Manitoba,
Northern Ontario, Northern Quebec

BC, Oregon, Washington,

Southern Alaska

4. Great Lakes

Southern Ontario,
Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Southern Alberta
Alberta, Southern
Michigan, Ohio
Michigan
Ohio, Upstate New
Saskatchewan, Southern Manitoba, Idaho, York
Montana,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming,
Colorado

3. Northern Plains & Mountains

The Living Building Challenge Users Guide

2007 Cascadia Region Green Building Council

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Living Building Challenge

Rubenstein School of Environment

and Natural Resources
Aiken Resource Management Building
University of Vermont | Burlington Vt.
with William Maclay Architects

Living Building Challenge

Site Context
Schenley Park,
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Project Size: approx. 3.1 acres total siteapprox. 24,000 SF (building)
Construction Budget: $16 million
(includes new construction, renovation of B&G, sitework)
Project Goals:
Living Building Challenge Certification
(issued by USGBC Cascadia Chapter)
LEED Platinum rating
Financial Sustainability
Functional Efficiency that encourages team collaboration
Building as a Teaching/Research Tool
Transferability to the Market

Phipps Conservatory
Center for Sustainable Landscapes
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
with the Design Alliance, Architects

The Living Building Challenge Users Guide

2007 Cascadia Region Green Building Council

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Living Building Challenge

Site Structure
Site Plan

Phipps Conservatory
Center for Sustainable Landscapes
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
with the Design Alliance, Architects

Phipps Conservatory
Center for Sustainable Landscapes
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
with Design Alliance Architects

with the Design Alliance, Architects

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Living Building Challenge

Living Building Challenge

The Living Building

Challenge isnt
designed to take a
typical project and
make it less bad. The
challenge is designed
from the beginning to
try and help the most
advanced projects
achieve an ideal level
of performance based
on what is possible
today (admittedly still
not ideal) and making
those characteristics all
prerequisites.
There is no way to
work the system. A
building is either a
living building or its
not.
The Living Building Challenge
Users Guide
2007 Cascadia Region
Green Building Council

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Living Building Challenge

Living Building Challenge

a village in a forest
Nikko Kiri Furi Resort
Tochigi Prefecture | Japan
with Venturi and Scott
Brown, Architects

The Living Building Challenge

Users Guide
2007 Cascadia Region
Green Building Council

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Protection of the
Forest Habitat

Reuse of
Damaged Sites

Nikko Kiri Furi Resort

Tochigi Prefecture | Japan

Retention basin/pond site

in existing highly eroded gully

Trees at the forest

edge in the way of
construction equipment:

Highly disturbed meadows on flat

mountain terraces were chosen as the
building sites to protect the forest

Waterfall
after completion of basin/pond

Were cut and recorded

After construction these
sprout hardwoods were
allowed to regenerate

NikkoNikko
Kiri Furi
KiriResort
Furi Resort
Tochigi
Prefecture
Tochigi
Prefecture
| Japan| Japan
With
Venturi
With Venturi
Scott
BrownScot Br
associates

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Reuse of
Damaged Sites

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Nikko Kiri Furi Resort

Tochigi Prefecture | Japan
With Venturi Scott Brown Architects

Ecological Restoration

Restoration and
management
Carol Franklin, RLA, FASLA are performance
performance arts
arts
where participation is as
important as the results
because the actions
change the participant.
Nikko Kiri Furi Resort
Tochigi Prefecture | Japan
With Venturi Scot Br

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Colin Franklin

ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO

Constructing the Biophilic Community

Nature is part of our humanity, and without some awareness and experience of that divine mystery,
man ceases to be man. When the Pleiades and the wind in the grass are no longer part of the human
spirit, a part of very flesh and bone, man becomes, as it were, a kind of cosmic outlaw, having
neither the completeness and integrity of the animal nor the birthright of true humanity
The following is the abstract of an essay for the proceedings of Constructing Green, Ross School of
Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, May 2010.
Abstract
Biophilic design may enhance the health and well being of urban populations. Because a great deal of
research on biophilia explores just the human psychological reaction to nature, implementing biophilic
design can sometimes feel like a luxury that is unsupported by quantifiable benefits. However, this is
far from the truth. Using a review of existing literature and various case studies, this chapter asserts
that biophilic design yields concrete financial benefits for businesses, accruing from worker
productivity. We will then review the components of biophilic design and their scope for
implementation, to organize the concept in our readers minds. Finally, this chapter will analyze a
variety of case studies to review the benefits that can accrue to companies and communities by
incorporating nature into construction and master planning. In a changing urban environment,
designers and planners must be cognizant of the effect that buildings have on their occupants, and
maintain our intrinsic connection with nature.