It’s not every day that a midterm exam comes this close to real life.

Master of Architecture students just presented design proposals for the Living Building at Georgia Tech – a new initiative and a resulting facility that completely reinvents the approach to sustainable building. The Living Building Challenge 3.0 is part building certification program, part advocacy tool, and a philosophy that defines the most advanced measures of sustainability possible today.

Guided by the Portman Visiting Critic, Brigitte Shim, the intent of the students' work is to document a building proposal at multiple scales, with skilled use of architectural tools and complementing media. The resulting student designs are critiqued by members of the Georgia Tech Planning and Design Commission as well as distinguished practicing architects and professors.

Midterms mark the students' first phase in this challenging project that considers everything from the location, water, energy, health and happiness, to the materials, equity and beauty of the finished building. The professional teams engaged by Georgia Tech to create the Living Building are working with a similar timeline.

And now that the students have presented their preliminary designs, they get to see how the pros tackled the same problem. The morning after their midterm review, the students got to sit with the Georgia Tech Professional Development Planning and Design Commission to observe the professional's presentations.

It turns out, there's a lesson here, too: The next generation of architects got a preview of the importance of an integrated approach to design. The three Living Building finalist teams, including architects, engineers and landscape architects, presented plans for what is expected to become the most environmentally-advanced education and research building ever constructed in the South East.

Students will develop their final projects during the second half of the semester in preparation for the Portman Final Review and Prize Jury process.