As global awareness of health and wellness grows, the way we adapt our construction and occupancy of buildings can support societal evolution, positively impacting the planet and enhancing the quality of life for future generations. But how can this be achieved? Conventional architecture and construction often give limited consideration to the physical and mental health and well-being of occupants in multi-family buildings. Living Systems Theory (LST) in construction, however, offers solutions, providing an antidote to the traditionally energy-intensive, sterile building trends of previous centuries.
As we shift away from the notion that buildings should operate like mechanical, cookie-cutter designs that leave us uninspired and disconnected from ourselves, each other, and the structures we inhabit, our only viable alternative is to aspire to buildings that are planned and treated like living organisms in harmony with their occupants, society, and natural surroundings.
In contrast to the Brutalism of the 1950s, with its harsh lines and raw concrete envelopes, Living Systems Theory offers a more ecologically intelligent alternative. LST aims to create environmentally aligned cities and homes where living systems comprise humane habitats, restoring humans to an inherently cohesive relationship with nature. In many ways, LST represents the physical manifestation of forward-thinking principles for the future of construction.
By creating buildings that adapt to humans in a modern, biophilic sense—providing ample natural elements within living systems rather than forcing humans to adapt to concrete boxes—developers and designers who support regenerative urbanism are gradually starting to bring healthy, complete natural systems into the larger urban and home design picture. Living buildings can and must become commonplace.
As the number of buildings designed based on this theory grows, stimulating interactions between inhabitants and nature, these homes can develop into self-sustaining systems. This shift can create urban landscapes that are sustainable almost automatically, aided by proper long-term maintenance and management, of course. The concept also invites designers to look to nature for new, low-impact material solutions that employ innovative, earth-regenerating methods, such as growing architectural elements from mycelium or fungal roots.
Since such buildings require understanding and insight for management and maintenance, it is crucial to weave occupant participation and intergenerational sustainability into the foundational planning. This notion is underpinned by general systems theory. As Elaine Parent of Concordia University points out, emergence and interaction are pivotal to the development and survival of systems. Therefore, any system inherently implies sets of interacting units establishing relationships, the absence of which denies the existence of a system altogether. Where there is no interaction or exchange, there is no system, and consequently, no life, activity, or LST.
Developed by James Grier Miller, Living Systems Theory provides a framework in which life is composed of eight self-organizing, open environmental systems that thrive through mutual engagement and the exchange of information, energy, and resources among cells, organs, organisms, groups, organizations, communities, societies, and supranational systems. Ensuring the survival of this eight-tiered system through homeostasis, 20 living processes are considered critical to the overall well-being of all living systems, organisms, and entities, including businesses and organizations.
Whether a system is simple or complex, well-developed dynamic systems in design and construction are supported by subsystems that capture and store resources like energy and water, facilitate service distribution, and manage waste in nature-supporting ways, such as converting waste into fuel or compost. It is also important to consider how a building, or collection of buildings, “lives” and “breathes” in unison with its environment.
Questions regarding how to manage temperature, mitigate pollution, and assess how occupants contribute to overall climate efficiency, alongside how these buildings are managed for optimal environmental performance, become critical during the design process. Other key considerations include social interaction in spaces where communities can develop and connect—sharing meaningful pastimes like learning new skills, enjoying a library, practicing hobbies, telling stories, making art, and learning to repair items. This communal focus creates memory and heritage for future generations.
In this way, buildings do not simply “think” and “sense” through AI and monitoring technology alone; they develop hearts and souls, becoming living entities through the individuals and families who inhabit them. Real estate entropy, which currently leads to the conversion of thousands of empty buildings across the continent into hotels and other commercial enterprises, can do much more than support the economy. By integrating valuable insights from the social sciences into regenerative urban design, we can create holistic living systems where humans and nature flourish together, rather than merely survive.
What would such an ecosystem of buildings ideally look like? Firstly, they would evolve to use non-toxic, earth-friendly materials that completely biodegrade in a short timeframe when returned to the soil, nourishing it rather than contaminating it, as microplastics do. Light and air quality would be carefully managed for the optimal comfort of humans, plants, and animals alike. This would primarily be achieved through good design and specialist engineering, with technology playing a supportive role in managing processes like temperature control as needed.
By allowing design and engineering to lead, environmentally friendly ancient design concepts—such as wind towers for natural cooling—can help prevent buildings from developing overly heavy technological footprints, which come with challenges like over-exploiting rare earth minerals and the need for regular upgrades that generate waste that typically ends up in landfills or broken recycling loops. These contributing aspects can now be measured to calculate the LST compliance of structures.
The Living Building Challenge raises an important question: what if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place? To truly achieve this, every fully certified Living Building must have a regenerative impact on its surrounding natural and human environment, maintain its resource boundaries while sustaining self-sufficiency, and provide occupants with clean, naturally harvested water, air, light, community, and food to live connected, mentally, spiritually, and physically rewarding lives.
Despite numerous public buildings already constructed in adherence to this strict discipline, there remains significant room for growth in the sector, especially in urban settings. Currently, there are only two homes fully certified under the Living Building Challenge in North America. The first is Desert Rain, built by Barbara Scott and Thomas Elliott in Bend, Oregon. Designed by Tozer Design, the 0.7-acre compound was completed in 2013 and features filtration and rainwater collection to fully sustain its water needs. It is entirely off-grid, with composting toilets and an on-site greywater treatment system running in a closed-loop cycle. This building demonstrated net-zero performance in waste creation, water, and energy consumption over a one-year cycle, making it a superlative example in global living systems construction.
The second residence is located at Beacon Springs Farm near Ann Arbor, Michigan. Known as Burh Becc, this project comprises a 4,981-square-foot farmhouse and a 2,446-square-foot barn on a 15-acre plot. Designed by Michael Klement and Susan Karczag of Architectural Resource, LLC, it complies with all living systems requirements and scores highly on health and happiness through its beautiful design. It also offers biophilic elements by providing wholesome produce to locals. Classified as a civilized environment for being a fully operational dwelling, it encourages arriving at the front door on foot and rates high on equity. From the materials used to how the house functions, the awareness of doing no harm to its environment, and its material choices, Burh Becc stands as a beacon of hope for future developments following the principles of Living Systems construction.
When Living Systems Theory is applied to home and urban design, mirroring the inherent wisdom of how forests and other natural organisms thrive, regenerated societal interdependence, the flow of relationships and resources, and adaptation in response to feedback loops can make the homes and cities we occupy far more beautiful, peaceful, and resilient—all while human cognitive and relational performance improve and happiness follows.
