A Mind-Expanding Addition to LEED v4.20

Still dusty and sunburnt from a five-day retreat in the Sonoran desert, USGBC staff presented the new language, which will apply to all v4.20 projects registered as of April 1, 2023.

“We could only get so far with the existing Integrative Process credit,” noted Hamit. “After all, how can we truly merge as a project team when we as individuals are deeply fragmented and disconnected from the larger Self?”

“It’s easy to create a checklist of what you do, but it isn’t about what you do,” noted guest speaker Ariel DeWilm, a celebrated integrative process theorist and practitioner.. “It’s who you’re being. That’s the difference here. How do you create a checklist for that?”

The two prerequisites both utilize psychedelic experience as a tool for transcending the silos and inefficiencies of conventional project management.

Prerequisite IP1: Personal Integrative Process

The individually focused prerequisite calls on all principal project team members and key stakeholders to “open their eyes and blow their minds” through a solitary hallucinogenic experience, using at least one of a list of controlled substances that includes LSD, ketamine, psilocybin, and ayahuasca.

Documentation for the individual prerequisite will include a signed affidavit from a trusted supplier, such as a medical doctor, nurse practitioner, naturopath, psychedelic concierge, or “friend of a friend.” An additional narrative describing the peak experience or, ideally, ego death must be a written statement, collage, or equivalent.

Prerequisite IP2: Team Integrative Process

The team prerequisite requires a series of at least three shared transpersonal experiences and encourages the addition of MDMA, a popular empathogenic known for its prosocial effects.

“What could be more unifying than a team meeting in which we look across the table and see only ourselves? We are not separate entities!” said Hamit emphatically, from his individual Zoom window. “Well, not ultimately.”

“When we realize we are all simply waves within the ocean, disharmony falls away,” Hamit added. “The project reveals itself as an emergent phenomenon from the collective consciousness, which the project team has the honor to convey into consensus reality.”

For documentation, teams will provide a video recording of the post-trip integration circle, in which members share their experiences. They may also share supplementary video of group events, e.g., a drum circle, hallucinogenic bike ride, or interpretive dance.

Alternative compliance paths

As an alternative compliance path (ACP) for Personal Integrative Process, principal team members and stakeholders with prior experience dissolving the self without the use of chemical aids may supply fMRI data demonstrating their ability to enter non-dual states at will.

“We are not wedded to pharmaceutical solutions,” said Hamit. “For millennia, advanced meditators have discovered these truths, and we do not wish to exclude those among us who have already perceived the Oneness of the universe.”

Individuals who do not wish to take drugs for the Team Integrative Process may serve as a guide for the other team members, “as long as they don’t kill the vibe,” the language specifies.

Industry reactions

Ariel DeWilm expressed approval throughout the Friday night webinar, with frequent nods and Zoom “heart” emoji. When presenters invited audience commentary, a beaming DeWilm said, “Integrative process is a personal development journey, if you will. Self actualization. Who do we need to be to heal the Earth? We heal ourselves to do so.”

Some reactions were less friendly. “What are you smoking?” blurted participant Gino Ryff-Herd, before webinar moderators muted him. 

“Magic mushrooms are not smoked—they are eaten or may be brewed as a tea,” corrected Hamit.

The overall response, however, was overwhelmingly positive. Vasiliki Dahm, director of restorative enterprise at the flooring company Colinear Effort, held up a candle video on his cell phone and said, “We are ready for this. I mean, really, have you seen our carpet patterns?”

Rhea Messcruff, a widely known regenerative design expert, asked numerous questions, including whether participants were required to choose between taking psychedelic drugs and pursuing alternative compliance paths, or if it was “okay to do both.” She also asked whether there is an upper limit to the amount of documentation participants may provide.

Hector Kipsypher, Ph.D., environmental scientist and dream alchemist at USGBC, was silent throughout the roundtable and mostly staring at his hand, but finally looked up and said, “You know, world peace would be really great!” Then he started to cry.