Where Sustainability Meets Collaboration: The Kendeda Building
The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design is located on a 1.35-acre site on Georgia Tech’s campus near Tech Square. It opened in October 2019, and its design notably meets the rigorous standards of the Living Building Challenge (LBC), one of the world’s most demanding green building certifications.
What is a “Living Building”?
A “Living Building” refers to a structure that meets the LBC’s standards across seven key areas:
· Place
· Water
· Energy
· Health & Happiness
· Materials
· Equity
· Beauty
Each of these performance areas has its own intentions and subdivisions. Buildings become certified after being operational for at least twelve consecutive months. Any building can be a “living building,” including residential homes, commercial spaces, and medical or laboratory buildings.
The Kendeda Building is the first building in the Southeast and the 28th in the world to acquire full LBC certification. This certification was achieved through key features, including net positive water use, net positive energy use, zero carbon construction, composting toilets, incorporated salvaged building materials, and an on-site wetland to treat greywater and offer groundwater recharge.
For a complete list of details about the Kendeda Building, click here.
Image: Gregg Willett
The Kendeda Building & The Community
The Kendeda Building stands adjacent to the EcoCommons area of Georgia Tech and is dedicated to sustainability and natural resource conservation. The building’s landscape integrates seamlessly with the surrounding environment, incorporating rain gardens, edible landscapes like a rooftop garden with beehives, and permeable pathways that manage stormwater and promote soil health and biodiversity.
The Kendeda Building hosts many classes and labs; however, it is also available as a workspace, meeting area, and common space for the community at large.
Architecture Meant to Inspire
In addition to the building’s open space design and use of natural light, Georgia Tech and the Kendeda Building continue to keep the space “fresh” by having cycling art exhibits. Their current exhibit, “Design for a Sustainable Future,” is their second collaboration with the Museum of Design Atlanta.
“What makes buildings like The Kendeda Building special is that they are designed with people in mind rather than just focusing on cost. Features like abundant natural sunlight, thoughtful design, and using aesthetically pleasing, sustainable materials create an environment that fosters collaboration. Here, people are more naturally drawn to work and share ideas in this space because of its inviting and inspiring atmosphere.”
Images: Miller Hull Partnership, Jonathan Hillyer
Images: Gregg Willett
The Kendeda Building’s primary use is as a non-departmental education, research, and outreach opportunity hub.
“The ‘non-departmental’ is critical because Georgia Tech wants the full breadth of its undergraduate students to have at least one class in the building so each of them can be inspired to help create a regenerative future. In other words, this is a space where a physics class and a geology lab coexist in the same building. The building is used for events by the broadest cross-section of students; by design, it welcomes students of different backgrounds.”
Click here for a virtual tour of the Kendeda Building.
Written by Neema Tavakolian