Dogs > Cats - But we haven't found the answer yet

As a profession, we have made progress in sustainable building design. We are more aware of the construction industry's impact on our world, and we are actively trying to ameliorate our effect. LEED was a great first step - it inspired and instructed designers to consider safer, locally-sourced, and more responsive materials and design strategies. As Moshen Mostavi would indicate however, LEED represents largely a generic approach to relying on standardized design strategies and proprietary technology. It simply is not sensitive and inclusive enough of specific design challenges. True sustainable design solutions cannot begin at the MACRO level and be widely disseminated. They must in turn be considered on the MICRO level and cultivated on a project-specific basis.

To me the living building challenge concept was once again a great step in the right direction for the building industry. Projects such as the Chesapeake Bay Brock Environmental Center by Smith Group JJR, a certified Living Building and a 2017 Professional COTE Top Ten winner, show the potential  of living buildings to occur at larger scales. This said, I think the challenge has its limits regarding scale and location. Recipients are largely based in more rural locations and smaller in scale.

Dogs are to cats (@Will) as Living Buildings are to LEED. The Former is dynamic, responsive, and developed from the beginning. The latter is more generic and less responsive. Both are good options and make life better, one is just better than the other. However, to me, we haven't yet found the answer. With some of the greatest minds in the realm of building on the trail, a better solution will come along. Perhaps this also means that we have not yet discovered the perfect pet yet.