Two Clemson University architecture students, Eric Laine and Suzanne Steelman, have created a video featuring their revolutionary new idea called LiveWork.  The basic premise of LiveWork is to focus on the economics of sustainability instead of just the environment. The pair achieves this by having their housing units also contain commercial space to be used by the owner of leased to another business or franchise. Here’s the video, they explain it much better than I can:

This idea reminds me of an idea featured in the book World Changing: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century by Alex Steffen. In the book Steffen suggests that businesses could share spaces, such as a cafe by day and club by night. This is not a completely novel idea, many businesses change throughout the day, but this idea would involve two completely different businesses using the same space. The point of this idea is to support businesses by cutting back on the cost of leasing their spaces and becoming more efficient with the spaces we have built.LiveWork works much in the same way, fusing residential living with commercial business. Not only is this a great way to maximize space but it also helps create those walkable and livable communities that are dominating the urban planning field currently.

After watching this video I posted it to the Facebook page for my school’s US Green Building Club (USGBC) students club, which I am a part of. I did so obviously because it was a new idea about green buildings that I thought my peers would be interested in, but also because I was intrigued that they did not once mention LEED in the video. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has become the accepted standard in green building for the US. As I have worked more with the LEED system this semester I have begun to see the downfalls and weaknesses of LEED. LEED helps build buildings that use water and energy more efficiently and maximize occupant satisfaction while minimizing environmental impact, but the system does not really change how we build or use buildings.

LiveWork on the other hand changes the purpose of a building. A LEED building is build for a classic one purpose: housing, offices, commercial use, etc. LiveWork envisions buildings as mix used spaces that help diversify communities and can change how we live. To me LEED is a great way to do what we are doing better, but LiveWork is a way to change what we are doing. Perhaps it is time we take a step back and examine other solutions beyond the accepted standard. LEED is still by far a great tool, but perhaps it should be applied to a new mentality instead of an old one.