Georgia Tech is bringing the Living Building Challenge to Atlanta in more ways than one.

On Oct. 18, the university hosts a daylong workshop to explore the how the world’s most rigorous green building certification platform plays out in a hot, humid climate like the Southeast’s.

The Seattle-based International Living Future Institute is organizing “Net Positive Atlanta: Subtropical Solutions” as part of an ongoing effort to familiarize “design and construction professionals, sustainability directors, faculty/educators, students, community organizers, administrators, operations staff and policy professionals” with the LBC. The certification platform got its start in the Pacific Northwest and is only now gaining a foothold in the Southeast.

“There’s been success in applying the Living Building Challenge in climates more temperate than the Southeast’s,” said ILFI Communications Director Nicole Van Batenburg. “How do we transfer those lessons and to what extent do you have to do certain things from scratch? There will be a lot of exploration of those issues.”

“Net Positive Atlanta” will include sessions on four of LBC’s seven “Petals” or focus areas: energy, equity, materials and water, and it will feature leading professionals in the regenerative design and construction. Among them: Lord Aeck Sargent Sustainable Design Director Joshua Gassman, who is design team leader for the Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech, and ArchitectureWorks partner Jay Pigford, design team leader for the recently completed Gulf State Park Interpretive Center in Alabama. Although it has yet to be be certified, the 5,000-square-foot Interpretative Center is the first candidate for full Living Building Challenge certification to be completed in the Deep South

The morning before the workshop, an optional tour of the construction site for the 40,000-square-foot Kendeda Building will be offered to workshop participants.

Early bird registration for the Oct. 18 workshop ends this week. For more information and to register, click here.

IMAGE ABOVE: The Gulf State Park Interpretive Center is seeking full Living Building Challenge certification. Photo courtesy: Gulf State Park.