Skip links

FAQ

Program + General Questions

The Living Future 2020 Online Conference is the place for the green building, sustainability, and social justice community to come together at this moment.

In line with our organization’s hopeful vision for the future, the International Living Future Institute is taking a bold approach to our annual flagship event, Living Future, by pioneering a new type of powerful, inspiring, motivating, and interactive online experience that can reach more people with more content at a lower cost.

Living Future 2020 Online (LF20 Online) will be a true ‘un’-conference that embraces our theme of “Sustaining Hope Within Crisis”, originally intended to reflect our climate emergency but even more relevant in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic. During these challenging times we believe that coming together as a community is paramount to creating a collective message of hope that can reach more people with greater urgency.

More than a collection of workshops, panels, and virtual opportunities for online engagement, LF20 Online promises to be a place to build community during these challenging times.

Check out the full schedule and speaker list for specifics on the program.

The Living Future 2020 Online Conference is a 2-day live event followed by 6 additional weeks of summits and sessions, all focused on green building and sustainability. It is hosted by the International Living Future Institute, the same people who administer the Living Building Challenge. The 2 day event is May 7-8 and is jam-packed with keynote speakers, multi-hour workshops and sessions, online networking breaks, virtual tradeshow booths, engaging and interactive breakout rooms, and all the fun, energizing, inspiring content that’s made this event so loved by our community over the years.

The LF20 Online Summit Series is part of the Living Future 2020 Online Conference. It is a 6-week series of live summits on Tuesdays starting May 19 from 10:00am – 3:00pm PDT (with lunch break from 12:00-1:00pm), followed by a virtual networking happy hour. All of the summits are included in the LF20 Online VIP Pass. Alternately, the summits are available for purchase as a 6-week package, as one-off single week tickets (which include that week’s summit and session), or through “upgrade ticket” options to LF20 Online Full Pass holders. Starting May 19, the schedule is posted on the registration page.

The LF20 Online Session Series is a 6-week rollout of LF20 Online with supplemental programming from sessions submitted to LF20. We will post new sessions every Thursday starting May 21, 2020 at 11:00am PT for six weeks, followed by a Birds of a Feather Networking Happy Hour. Sessions will match the track topics to allow aligned interests to meet and network. Full details will be coming and posted on the registration page.

ILFI decided to move Living Future 2020 to an online format in order to provide the Living Future network and the green building and sustainability community a place to come together in this difficult time, in line with the theme of the event, “Sustaining Hope in Crisis.” Further, Living Future is ILFI’s largest annual fundraiser and is an important contributor to ILFI’s financial health as a nonprofit, and helps support our staff and service our programs throughout the year.

In line with our organization’s hopeful vision for the future, ILFI is taking a bold approach to our annual flagship event, Living Future, by pioneering a new type of powerful, inspiring, motivating, and interactive online experience that can reach more people with more content at a lower cost.

ILFI is able to offer the LF20 Online event VIP Pass at half the cost of the in-person event, with even lower cost options for nonprofit, education, and government employees. See the registration page for specifics about price and the details of what’s included in each pass type.

We’re excited to have everyone that already registered for the in-person event as part of the new online experience. We have several options to reconcile the price difference between the online and in-person event. We’ve reached out to all previously-registered attendees via email with specifics. If you didn’t receive this email or need it again, please email lf@living-future.org.

It’s too early to tell what next year will look like in terms of our flagship annual event, but we are certainly hoping that we can all be in person again but will follow guidelines issued by our local health authorities. Regardless of the future format, we’re excited to be able to continue with this year’s event in a new format, learn from the process, and share what we’ve learned so that our community can continue to gather virtually, to support each other as we continue the important work we’re doing around climate change, and uplift one another with hope during these times of crisis.

We hope to have both of them join ILFI at future events. To make our digital event effective, we shortened our program and trimmed our keynote offerings. We are very excited to also host founder Jason F. McLennan, who is speaking for the first time in years at Living Future, as well as Katharine Wilkinson from Project Drawdown. Please register today to catch both of them on Thursday, May 7 and Friday, May 8, respectively, as they provide the morning kick off to our two days of online conference content. You can see all of our speakers and our full schedule here.

As a global organization with a highly engaged volunteer network connected all over the globe, ILFI is uniquely positioned to unify our global movement and create engaging online experiences. Living Future 2020 Online will feature discussion groups with expert speakers, collaborative workshops, manufacturer showcases, informal happy hours, town halls with notable speakers, musical experiences, morning energizer and more. While the format is online, we intend to create as many interactive experiences as possible with a much larger global audience than ever before. Check out the schedule here.

ILFI sets the theme, dates, location, and venue for Living Future at least a year in advance, and this year was no different. When we chose the theme “Sustaining Hope Within Crisis,” we were referencing the climate crisis. Now, we find ourselves in the middle of a global health pandemic, which our theme seems to be referencing. While that is purely a coincidence, we have decided to keep our theme as it is because we are still committed to sustaining hope at this time, perhaps more than ever.

This year’s Living Future conference offers everyone in all time zones the option to participate by watching recorded content at a later date. We encourage you to attend what you can live, and offer flexible passes to accommodate everyone’s availability. If you are +/- 8 hours from the Pacific Time zone, please reach out to LF@living-future.org for a special offer.

Registration, Refunds + Cancellations

Yes! As listed in our pricing grid, educational institutions, nonprofits and government employees are eligible for a discounted full conference pass. Email us at lf@living-future.org from your edu/gov/org email to take advantage of this offer.

We recognize you may need to change your pass type or no longer be able to attend. Credits are available until May 5. Please email us at lf@living-future.org with your request.

Continuing Education (CEUs)

LFA, AIA, & PHIUS credits — details here.

The education possibilities at LF20 and the 6 weeks of additional summits and sessions are nearly endless. All sessions and workshops will be approved for Living Future Accreditation credit. ILFI will submit appropriate sessions, tours, and workshops to AIA for approval prior to the conference, and details regarding AIA|LU and AIA|HSW will be noted in the detailed session descriptions as they are approved. Select sessions are approved for PHIUS CPHC credits.

This varies by accreditation. For LFA, you will be required to self-report credits. Detailed instructions on how to do so will be emailed to you after the conference. For AIA, ILFI will report your attendance if you provide your AIA Member Number at the time of registration. ILFI will not be seeking GBCI credits for any sessions; however, you can self-report educational hours to GBCI.

Archive: COVID-19 Event Updates

March 16, 2020: We know that many of you have been wondering about the status of Living Future 2020. Yesterday, March 15, 2020, the CDC advised event producers against holding any events with more than 50 people in attendance. As a result, we will be moving forward with Living Future 2020 as a digital event, one that promises to be open and accessible to all and appeal to an even wider international audience. This digital Living Future will harness the impact of our powerful community that meets annually to explore ways to fight a crisis amid chaos, and now, we are hopeful that our community will rise with us to embody the theme of Living Future 2020, “Sustaining Hope Within Crisis.” More specifics will emerge over the coming days, but we promise you an exciting gathering of thought-leaders, experts, champions, and friends all collaborating on building the living future we want–one that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at LF@living-future.org with any questions.

March 11, 2020: Earlier today, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee announced that most events with more than 250 people taking place within the county that encompasses Seattle and two other counties nearby are prohibited by the state through the end of the month and possibly longer.

Every attendee of LF20 is a highly valued member of the Living Future community and our goal is to ensure your health and safety first and foremost. At this time we are contending with a number of unknown factors and our staff is busy exploring alternative options for the event should the need arise, including moving it online. We appreciate your patience and flexibility as we work to deliver a solution best aligned with our mission. We will continue to update these FAQs with more information in the coming days and weeks as the situation changes. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at LF@living-future.org .

March 10, 2020: Our primary consideration is to put your health and safety first at Living Future 2020 in Seattle, May 5-8, 2020. As such, we wanted to share that we are proactively developing plans for additional hand-sanitizing stations near all of our food events and heavily trafficked areas, as well as reminders, postings, and signage around the event encouraging frequent hand washing. Moreover we are developing additional hotel cleaning protocols of high-touch areas, such as doorknobs, escalator rails, elevators, bathrooms, and countertops. Additionally, we will follow the guidelines of health agencies and advise anyone with cold/flu symptoms–and ask those traveling from Level 3 or Level 4 impacted countries–or anyone who has had direct contact within the last 14 days with any individuals who are ill or under observation to decline participation at the event. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at LF@living-future.org.

March 3, 2020: As our team continues to ramp up and plan for this amazing annual event, we wanted to reassure you that your health and safety are our top priority, which is why we are actively monitoring international, domestic, and local health agencies for information and precautions surrounding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. We will communicate to you any changes in status that could impact travel or attendance to Living Future 2020.

As of the date of this writing, March 3, 2020, there are currently zero travel alerts or event cancellation requirements for domestic travel and events within the U.S., including the Seattle area. We will send updates as well as update this FAQ if and when any changes arise during this fluid situation.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at LF@living-future.org.