Event Description

Join Illinois Green Alliance and the Chicago Living Future Collaborative information session and building tour of the Keller Center at University of Chicago. 

This session will focus on the Healthy Materials process in the design and construction of a Living Building Challenge – Petal project. Due to the materials focus of the Keller Center project, multiple products and manufacturing processes have been altered to create more healthy materials for future projects. A diverse panel of presenters will speak to the unique material substitutions of products and methods that the design team used to satisfy the owner’s request for long-lasting systems that, at the time, did not exist on the market as a Red List compliant system.

Success stories will be shared by the panel, including each person’s role in and perspective on the collaborative use of a salvaged wood source for the project – an aspect of the design that heavily aligns with the mission of the client. The resulting installation is part artwork, part social equity, and a symbol for a school that focuses on changing world policy for positive social impact.

An in-depth analysis of the process will be presented by different perspectives with a comprehensive series of slides. The presenters will engage the audience with questions relative to their experience and the content being presented though video, professional photography, architectural mediums, and project documentation. Presenters will take informal surveys of the audience throughout the presentation, which will inform the audience about others who have had similar experiences. There will also be a traditional Q&A portion at the end of the presentation where audience members can ask questions of the presenters.