Jason F. McLennan (born 1973) is an
architect and prominent figure in the
green building movement. He is the founder, former chair, and current board member of the International Living Future Institute[1] and Cascadia Green Building Council, a chapter of both the
United States Green Building Council and the
Canada Green Building Council. He is the CEO of McLennan Design,[2] his own architecture and planning firm that does work all over the world. McLennan is also the creator of Pharos, an advanced building material rating system,[3] Declare, an ingredient disclosure label for building products,[4] and JUST, a social justice transparency platform for organizations.[5] In addition, he developed the
Living Community Challenge[6] and
Living Product Challenge. Additionally, McLennan formerly served as the chief innovation officer for Integral Group.[7]
In 2022, McLennan joined
Perkins&Will as its first
chief sustainability officer. He merged his company, McLennan Design, with Perkins&Will and became its managing director. McLennan Design located on Bainbridge Island, Wash. is Perkins&Will's 28th studio.[8]
The Living Building Challenge
McLennan created the
Living Building Challenge, a
sustainable design performance standard, while he was a principal with
BNIM Architects. He transferred the intellectual property for the Challenge to Cascadia Green Building Council when he became that organization's CEO in 2006, and formally launched the program in November of that year.[9]
Awards and honors
In 2013, McLennan was recognized by GreenBiz.com with the VERGE 25 Worldchanger Award.[10] In 2012, McLennan's Living Building Challenge was the recipient of the 2012
Buckminster Fuller Challenge Award.[11] McLennan was named an
Ashoka Fellow in 2012 for "creating incentives and new practices so that the built environment improves health, well-being while increasing our access to a diverse and productive natural world."[12] In 2012, he was also appointed to join
Deepak Chopra,
Dick Gephardt,
Mel Matinez and
Terry McAuliffe on the advisory board of Delos,[13] a wellness real estate development firm founded by
Paul Scialla. He is a member of the
Clinton Global Initiative, and in 2011, he was named one of
Yes! Magazine's Breakthrough 15.[14]
McLennan is a frequent speaker at green building and sustainability conferences and has presented at events including:
Bioneers, Greenbuild[15] and the Australian Green Building Conference.[16]
McLennan is the author of seven books: Transformational Thought II (2016),[19]Transformational Thought (2012),[20]Zugunruhe: The Inner Migration To Profound Environmental Change (2010),[21]The Ecological Engineer (2006),[22]The Dumb Architect's Guide to Glazing Selection (2004), The Philosophy of Sustainable Design (2004),[23] and LOVE+GREEN BUILDING: You and Me and the Beautiful Planet.[24]
Family
Jason F. McLennan is married to Tracy McLennan and has four children, Julian, Declan, Aidan and Rowan.[25]