Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Living Future ’25 – Conference Report
The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is a philosophy, advocacy tool, and certification program defining today’s most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment. FSC-certified wood is the only wood accepted in LBC, except for salvaged or wood harvested onsite for use in construction. This certification is administered by the International Living Future Institute, and each year they host the Living Future Conference.
Living Future ’25 happened May 6-8 in Portland, Oregon, and hosted the who’s-who in sustainable design, material supply, and construction. Jonathan Reese, FSC US Built Environment Strategic Partnerships Manager, attended and offers the following insights:
On Day 1, FSC US Board Member Rachel Baker (of Washington Conservation Action) participated in the “Forests and Buildings, Regenerative Wood Procurement” half-day summit, which was sponsored by Zena Forest Products and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
To a packed room, Rachel discussed the current state of certification nation-wide, and how FSC helps balance sustainable forestry with financial security, so US forests remain an asset today and a healthy inheritance tomorrow. She went on to inform the crowd of all the new activities FSC US is doing to address challenges to sustainable forestry and procurement of products, both upstream and downstream.
Amongst many compelling presentations in the summit, Stephanie Carlisle of C Scale spoke on innovative solutions for carbon reporting and Life Cycle Assessment around wood in buildings, while David Diaz explained more accurate ways (than currently in practice) to address Environmental Product Declarations and how they relate to wood.
All in, the group of presenters clearly outlined the importance of ecosystem services supplied by healthy forests, and the drastic difference to impact on forest ecosystems between business-as-usual timber harvests compared with sustainable forestry.
Day 2: Thanks to our friends at JLG Architects and JE Dunn Construction for their in-depth presentation on the Theodore Roosevelt Public Library project, currently underway in Medora, ND. The project is aiming for full Living Building Challenge Certification, LEED Platinum, and Sustainable SITES Initiative Platinum. FSC US is currently helping source wood and lending chain-of-custody insights for this ambitious project.
Amazon’s group of consultants presented on their new, public, Sustainability Exchange, mapping seven different regions in the US on forest health and management approaches as part of a responsible wood-sourcing framework. The session provided attendees with a system to evaluate forestry practices against ecological and climate smart forestry criteria.
Day 3’s highlight was the closed-door Climate Pledge Breakfast. A brainstorm for the AEC industry, based on sustainable forestry criteria discussed at the conference, the goal was to figure out what collective step can be taken to support these procurement methods and share what was learned with others.
In closing, for anyone looking to get involved with cutting-edge sustainable building practices, with an eye to the future, this conference is for you.
