Living Building Challenge (LBC) buildings must have a certain percentage of their site dedicated to edible landscaping / food production. For our village/campus transect, the ’66 Environmental Center must have 35% of its site in food production. Therefore, the solar panels and plants are vying for the sun’s rays on the site. The food-producing plants on our site include perennials such as rhubarb, asparagus, strawberries, horseradish, walking onions, and Jerusalem Artichoke; high bush blueberries including raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, and currants; an annual vegetable garden managed by the student gardening group the Williams Sustainable Growers; low-bush blueberries as groundcover across numerous sections of the site; and a fruit orchard that includes apple, peach, pear, and quince trees.
