Registration FAQs

This article answers frequently asked questions for teams planning to register or who have recently registered a building project. 

IN THIS ARTICLE

• How do I register a building project?
• When should I register my building project?
• Is Living Future Membership required to register a building project?
• What are the program fees, and when are they due?
• What information should I have prepared for registration?
• What are the next steps after registering my project?
• Will my project be affected by fee changes after registering?
• Will my project be affected by updates to the program requirements after registering?
• Can I re-register my project under a different pathway, program, or version?
• Can I include multiple buildings under a single registration?

How do I register a building project?

Follow these instructions in the Portal User Guide to register a building project.

When should I register my building project?

The earlier the better—ideally, as soon as certification has been identified as a project goal. Registration locks in your program requirements and gives you access to technical support from our Buildings Team. Though projects can register at any point in the development process, registering early in design is a proven method for increasing the likelihood of a successful certification.

Is Living Future Membership required to register a building project? 

The individual registering the project (a.k.a., the application owner) must have an active Professional Living Future Membership at the time of registration. Collaborators invited to the Living Future Portal by the application owner do not need to be members. 

What are the program fees, and when are they due? 

Program fees are posted on our website. If you need help determining what your project’s program fees will be, we’re happy to help—please reach out to sales@living-future.org.

Program fees are paid in two installments:

• Registration Fee: Flat fee, due upon registration. 
• Certification Fee: Based on project square footage, due upon submission for Ready Audit. 

What information should I have prepared for registration?

Your registration application will ask for the following information. Once you have this information on hand, the form should take no more than 15 minutes to complete.

• Basic Project Information
  • Intended Certification Path 
    • If Petal Certification, you’ll also be asked to indicate the Petals you intend to pursue
  • Typology
  • Transect 
  • Estimated Project Floor Area
  • Estimated Project Land Area (for Landscape + Infrastructure projects only) 
  • Brief Project Description 
  • Project Rendering or Photo (optional) 
  • Project Type
    • If Residential, you’ll also be asked:
      • The total number of residential units (if multi-family) 
      • Whether the project meets Living Future’s affordable housing criteria (and if yes, the area’s median income) 
• Owner + Project Team Information 
  • Owner Organization
  • Owner/Owner Representative Name
  • Owner/Owner Representative Email
  • General Contractor Organization
  • Architect Organization
• Project Timeline Information 
  • Anticipated Start of Construction 
  • Anticipated End of Construction
• Project Address
• Terms and Invoice information
  • Indicate whether your project requires a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
    • If yes, you’ll be asked to send a copy to sales@living-future.org for signature
  • Review and agree to the Registration Terms + Conditions on behalf of the project team by providing an electronic signature 
  • Indicate whether you give Living Future permission to use your project information in marketing materials, including adding your project to the Project Map 
  • Company to Invoice 
  • Company Contact 
  • Company Contact's Email Address
  • Mailing Address 
  • Accounts Payable/Billing Contact Email Address (if different from Company Contact Email Address)
  • Other emails where invoice should be sent (optional) 
  • Indicate whether a Purchase Order (PO) is needed

What are the next steps after registering my project? 

Please allow five business days for our Buildings Team to review your application and issue an invoice for the registration fee. Payment can be made via credit card, wire transfer, or check (refer to this article for more details on payment options). 

The registration process is considered complete when Living Future receives payment for the registration fee. At that time, the application owner and any collaborators they have invited to the application will receive a “Support Intro” email detailing next steps. 

Will my project be affected by fee changes after registering? 

Generally, no. A project’s fees are determined at registration and are not impacted by subsequent changes to the program fees. 

There are two exceptions to this rule: 

• Projects that registered prior to March 2024 signed a five-year certification agreement at the time of registration. The terms of that agreement, including fees, are valid for five years. Projects that fail to submit for audit prior to the expiration of their five-year certification agreement will need to pay their program’s current certification fees (as published on Living Future’s website) when submitting for audit. 
• Projects that fail to submit for Ready Audit prior to their program’s sunset date will need to re-register under an active version of their program. The project will need to pay a $250 administrative fee at the time of re-registration, and will need to pay the program’s current certification fees (as published on Living Future’s website) when submitting for Ready Audit. 

Will my project be affected by updates to the program requirements after registering? 

Generally, no. A project is held to the program requirements as published at the time of its registration. Projects may adopt updates to the program requirements at their own discretion, but it is the responsibility of the project team to clearly bring any such deviations to the attention of the auditor in their application.

The only exception to this rule is if a project fails to submit for Ready Audit prior to their program’s sunset date. If this occurs, the project will need to re-register under an active version of their program. 

Can I re-register my project under a different pathway, program, or version?

Yes. Teams that have not yet submitted for Ready Audit may: 

• Re-register under a different certification pathway (i.e., switching between Living, Petal, and Core Certification)
• Re-register under a different program (i.e., switching between LBC, ZC, and ZE)
• Re-register under a more recent version of the program they are currently enrolled in (i.e., switching from LBC 4.0 to LBC 4.1, or ZE 1.0 to ZE 1.1)

Any such changes will incur a $250 USD administrative fee at the time of re-registration. Fees for the project (both registration and certification) will be re-determined in accordance with the chosen program’s currently published fees. Any fees previously paid by the project (i.e., the registration fee, and possibly a pre-construction fee) will be applied as a credit toward the new balance. 

Teams will not receive additional support services beyond their initial registration allowance, but, as always, may purchase additional technical support if needed.

Can I include multiple buildings under a single registration?

Multiple buildings may pursue certification under a single registration if the following conditions are true: 

• The name of the project accurately reflects the certified project scope (e.g., if the project name refers to an entire campus, then all buildings on the campus must be certified)
• All buildings are pursuing certification under the same program, pathway, and version; if registering for Petal Certification, all buildings are pursuing the same Petals
• All buildings are located on a single clearly delineated site 
• All buildings are owned and managed by the same entity 
• All buildings are part of a cohesive design and construction effort 
• Water data from each building is aggregated into a single dataset* 
• Energy data from each building is aggregated into a single dataset*
• If pursuing Imperative 08 (Net Positive Carbon) and using EC-012 (Off-Site Renewables Exception), the off-site renewables for each building must be documented in aggregate  
• Materials data and associated costs for each building are aggregated into a single dataset
• All buildings use the same performance period** 
• If the buildings represent more than one Typology, all buildings must meet the more comprehensive of the applicable suite of Imperatives*** 

*All building-level metering and submetering requirements will still apply. Teams are asked to collect and combine water readings and energy readings from each building into a single dataset to enable one comprehensive review. The buildings must meet or exceed the required water and energy net-positive performance requirements as a whole. In other words, individual buildings may fall short of net-positive performance as long as the project as a whole meets the target.

**For example: If a project includes three new buildings with a staggered construction and occupancy timeline, then the first two buildings will have to wait until the third building is constructed and occupied before starting their performance periods. 

***For example: If a project includes both New Buildings and Building Renovations, all buildings must achieve the more comprehensive set of Imperatives required for New Buildings.