Code and Regulatory Barriers to the Living Building Challenge for Sustainable, Affordable, Residential Development (SARD)

November 2008 - June 2009

Cascadia worked with the City of Vancouver, WA, and Clark County, WA, to identify and address code and regulatory barriers to achieving the Living Building Challenge for sustainable, affordable, residential development.  The Code Study utilized six green residential projects built or under development in the region and created case studies by overlaying Cascadia’s Living Building Challenge criteria.  Each case study project was then thoroughly reviewed against the City and County’s land use, development, and building codes to highlight the potential obstacles that similar projects may encounter.

By engaging public and private stakeholders, regulatory and institutional barriers within the code framework were discussed and strategies to overcome barriers were identified and prioritized.  Finally, agencies within the City and County were queried to estimate the costs and benefits of implementing these strategies.  The following three reports summarize the results of this Study.  This project is funded through the Washington State Department of Community Trade & Economic Development.

Report #1: Findings

November 2008

Report #2: Strategies and Recommendations

April 2009

Report #3: Cost Benefit Summary

June 2009