Well this is exciting: The NAACP — the venerable civil rights organization founded by W.E.B. DuBois — has announced a design competition for a new “Living Headquarters” in its home city of Baltimore.

According to the call for submissions:

In actualizing our commitment to ground our operations in the principles and practices of our environmental and climate justice platform, the NAACP will establish its headquarters, currently based in Baltimore, MD, as an exemplar for an Equitable Living Building Project. Standards we will follow include The Living Building Challenge, the LEED Platinum Certification, the WELL Building Standard, and more! Through this effort, we will develop a replicable model of ensuring the centering of equity in all aspects of sustainable buildings, including access; affordability; cultural resonance; as well as inclusive decision-making, financing, service provision, procurement, contracting, employment, communications, monitoring and evaluation, and so much more.

The competition launched this week, and NAACP will hold webinars for registered competitors as early as Sept. 14. For more information, download this PDF.

PHOTO ABOVE: Historian and activist W.E.B. Du Bois was among the co-founders of the NAACP more than a century ago. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.