Clark County knocks down barriers to living buildings
By Christina Williams, Sustainable Business Oregon
Sustainable Business Oregon
The Clark County Board of Commissioners has approved an ordinance to establish a pilot program for residential, commercial and mixed-use projects pursuing the Living Building Challenge.
The Sustainable Communities Ordinance allows some projects to bypass traditional building codes and local regulations — such as a required number of parking spaces or the use of composting toilets — in the pursuit of green-building strategies.
The pilot program will be accepting project applications for five years or until six projects are accepted.
Clark County's ordinance follows on the heels of Seattle's living building pilot program, which was launched late last year.
The Sustainable Communities Ordinance grew out of an analysis completed by the Cascadia Green Building Council in 2009 that identified barriers to the Living Building Challenge. Clark County worked with Cascadia to develop the new policy.
"Clark County is at the leading edge of a growing number of local governments seeking ways to support Living Buildings in their communities,” said Jason F. McLennan, CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council, in a press release.
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