TRAILBLAZER
movement . In 2006 , he himself established the Living Building Challenge , a globally-regarded sustainable building certification that both promotes and delineates the extent to which a construction – whether a building , landscape , neighbourhood or piece of infrastructure , whether in the city or the country , new or retrofitted – can be regarded as a genuinely sustainable outgrowth of its setting . As CEO of McLennan Design , he came to manifest this vision in projects around the world .
But it wasn ’ t always like this . Born in 1973 , the era during which McLennan came of age as an architect did not view sustainability as a priority . That changed as the 20th century gave way to the 21st , and the full scale of the climate catastrophe came into focus .
To him , it had always been obvious , though , and he had played the role of proverbial soothsayer : a powerful message but no audience
Why , can ’ t we do these things that nature does ? to pay him any mind . That didn ’ t stop him from quitting a lucrative job at a leading firm and , with a wife and a young child to look after , moving to the West Coast to start his own thing . McLennon began designing buildings that , rather than be carcinogenic , did nothing adverse to us at all ; that , rather than emitting carbon into the atmosphere , would help offset it . Who wouldn ’ t want to have their life tied to a building with no energy bills , no water bills and no toxic chemicals ?
22 February 2023