Jason F. McLennan brings buildings to life
Against the century-old church next door, the modest, modern building that houses the science lab of Seattle鈥檚 private Bertschi School could seem out of place. Its metal roof glints in the daylight, a surrounding garden of native grasses rustles in the breeze, and in-ground windows offer a view of the water that flows beneath.
Jason F. McLennan remembers when the owners cut the ribbon on this 1,400-square-foot addition.
Then, he recalls, the children started chanting. Not 鈥淏ertschi!鈥� but 鈥淟iv-ing build-ing! Liv-ing build-ing!鈥� Those elementary-schoolers knew what stood before them 鈥� a structure built to have minimal environmental impact, to exist in an almost symbiotic relationship with its surroundings, operating more like an ecosystem, less like a consumer.
McLennan has led the charge on this approach to building design and in 2006 kicked off the Living Building Challenge, a call to architects to take 鈥済reen鈥� a giant step forward.
And in winter 2011, children cheered an architectural feat. 鈥淚t was humbling,鈥� McLennan says, months later, gazing at the Bertschi building on an unseasonably cool summer morning.
The man who has been called a 鈥渃hange agent鈥� in the world of sustainable architecture is in fact a humble one. Immersed in an expensive profession, promoting a cause that some might call trendy, McLennan is direct and decisive, a down-to-earth neighbor who can talk composting toilets or philosophy.
His gentle demeanor masks a hotshot in his field. McLennan, chief executive of the Cascadia Green Building Council and of the more recently formed International Living Future Institute (ILFI), wants to revamp the concept of 鈥済reen,鈥� which, he points out, still involves the consumption of nonrenewable resources 鈥� just fewer of them.
To be certified 鈥渓iving,鈥� a building (or a park, or a street, or a remodel) must meet criteria within seven categories: site, water, energy, health, materials, equity, and beauty. 鈥淗ealth鈥� includes attention to air quality, for example, while 鈥渆quity鈥� considers issues such as fair trade.
Three projects, in such disparate places as Hawaii, Missouri, and New York, have achieved living status, while about 100 others, including Bertschi, are in various stages of certification; ILFI aims to have living buildings in all 50 states, each Canadian province, and every country in the world.
A transformation to living buildings won鈥檛 happen overnight, McLennan said, but it鈥檚 a start.
鈥淓ach building, each project creates a ripple effect around it. It changes the way people think. When there are enough of these examples, then a sudden and large-scale shift will be possible. We can鈥檛 control the timing of major shifts in civilization, but we can increase the likelihood that a shift will occur.鈥�
A lifelong learner
McLennan, now 38, grew up in the factory city of Sudbury, Ontario, where he planted trees as part of a community effort to clean up industrial areas. Then McLennan saw the city redeveloped into commercial sprawl; bulldozers leveled some of the very areas he and his fellow community members had worked to restore. It spurred McLennan 鈥� who as a child sketched houses, castles, and ships before progressing to drafting classes 鈥� to chart a career in architecture.
He attended the University of Oregon, which had a reputation for its progressive program, then joined the Kansas City-based firm of BNIM Architects. As he expanded his knowledge of and experience in green building, he began pushing the concept even further.
McLennan鈥檚 boss at BNIM, Bob Berkebile, said the young Oregon graduate joined a team designing a green-building prototype at Montana State University. McLennan, Berkebile said, not only put in long hours on the project but sometimes stayed up until 2 or 3 a.m. peppering him with questions and engaging in broader discussions about life.
鈥淥ur talks were about trying to understand the world, trying to develop a strategy for changing the outcome of the human experiment,鈥� Berkebile said. 鈥淛ason was then and is now a lifelong learner.鈥�
McLennan went on to become the youngest principal at the firm and grew increasingly focused on expanding the concept of green building, incorporating the biomimicry ideas of Janine Benyus 鈥� who advocates replicating natural systems 鈥� along with the architectural strategies of Berkebile and other architects.
Push beyond LEED certification 鈥� the existing gold-standard for environmental building 鈥� McLennan determined, to a design approach that doesn鈥檛 just take less but gives back.
鈥淗e鈥檚 clearly driven by an internal fire that is unique. If I had a chance to clone him, I would be all about doing it,鈥� Berkebile said. 鈥淗e is a nexus of a lot of important things in human history 鈥� the right person for the right time.鈥�
Building as teachable moment
The Bertschi School spreads over a city block, incorporating an old church, vintage homes, and an LEED-certified academic and performance space. Around the time board members and administrators began discussing plans for the science wing, a couple of young architects attended a conference where McLennan gave a speech about living buildings.
The two, Chris Hellstern and Stacy Smedley, approached McLennan afterward and pledged to complete a living building within a year. They eventually connected with Bertschi鈥檚 administration and began designing the science wing. Hellstern and Smedley donated their fees; Bertschi students provided input on some of the features.
LEED and other green-building strategies had long appealed to Hellstern, but, he said, until he heard McLennan speak, he wasn鈥檛 sure how to do more.
鈥淛ason 鈥� really helped to illuminate a path to being a part of something greater than LEED work,鈥� said Hellstern, whose firm, KMD Architects, helped form the Restorative Design Collective. That organization of architects has convinced some manufacturers to offer or switch to healthier, more environmentally friendly products. KMD is rewriting specifications to eliminate toxic materials from its projects.
The permeable concrete on the walkway, the solar panels on the roof, the indoor wall of plants for treating gray water, the structural insulated panels in the lab 鈥� every item in Bertschi鈥檚 new addition was chosen to meet living building standards and to help the students learn about natural resources. Three times a month, Bertschi administrators lead tours of the buildings 鈥� not just for prospective students, but for teachers and students from other schools, and, of course, architects.
The most popular feature on opening day鈥� this is, remember, a school 鈥� was the composting toilet.
鈥淲e had a line out the door,鈥� said Stan Richardson, Bertschi鈥檚 director of technology and campus planning. The longest segment of any tour, Richardson added, is the discussion in the bathroom.
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McLennan sees it as simply one element of the larger picture. Living buildings must consume as few resources as possible, and what they produce should be reused, be it water that would otherwise go down the drain or human waste that would be flushed into the sewer. Natural systems reuse and regenerate.
鈥淭his project exemplifies integration,鈥� McLennan explains. 鈥淚n most buildings, the systems are the backdrop. There is no system in this building that is not a teachable moment. They all matter, and they all have something to offer.鈥�
Less bad is not good enough
The living-building philosophy stretches the green-building concept, which, McLennan points out, still relies on using fossil fuels, unhealthy building materials, and the labor of people who are treated unfairly. Moving toward a living building process, then, is about more than just construction; it鈥檚 about a fundamental shift in attitudes, culture, and economics.
But while it is easy to push living building among architects and environmentally conscious communities, McLennan acknowledges the obstacles, particularly the political ones, in society at large. Not to mention the additional, upfront costs of living-building materials, or the difficulties in finding the appropriate local sources 鈥� though he hastens to point out that the long-term savings, such as in utility costs and the broader conservation of resources, make up for that. Fighting climate change, habitat loss, pervasive toxins, and social injustice, he believes, are worth the undertaking.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 help but feel a great deal of despair and a great deal of concern for humanity and other species. But if you鈥檙e really paying attention, you can鈥檛 help but be made optimistic by some of the intelligent work all around the world,鈥� he said. 鈥淐omplex human beings can be optimistic and hit with despair at the same time. You have to sit with your pain and be smiling.鈥�
McLennan and his wife, Tracy, try to adapt the principles of living buildings into raising a family of four children 鈥� 鈥渓iving鈥� as lifestyle, if you will. They shop consignment, choose minimal packaging, participate in a CSA.
His briefcase is worn and scuffed 鈥� a look that, in a child鈥檚 stuffed animal, would be called 鈥渓oved.鈥� He drives a Prius, but because he lives on Bainbridge Island, Wash., he can walk to the ferry and ride the bus around Seattle. He lives in a 1970s house, which he improves, as finances allow, to living-building standards.
But McLennan is no environmental saint. Although he does as much as he can via email and by phone, he flies to presentations of his work 鈥� sometimes that鈥檚 the only effective way to get the word out, he says.
鈥淚鈥檓 not perfect,鈥� he explains, nor is the living-building movement asking people to be. What it does instead, he says, is urge people to change.
鈥淭he world of green building is a world that is a little less bad, but that鈥檚 no longer adequate,鈥� McLennan explains. 鈥淎ll planetary systems are in decline. It鈥檚 time to examine the whole paradigm. It鈥檚 no longer good enough to be a little less bad. We have to be a lot more restorative.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we have to get to work. You have to persevere.鈥�
鈥� Kim Eckart wrote this article for , the Winter 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Kim is a Seattle-based writer.
鈥� originally appeared online at .
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