The TH Interview: Steve Glenn, Founder and CEO of LivingHomes
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles 
on 11. 8.07
Steve Glenn has been on a tear of late. Capping off weeks of buildup and fawning media coverage - from the likes of us - the WIRED Home finally opened its doors to the public earlier this week to great fanfare. Despite his demanding schedule, Glenn was kind enough to sneak in some time for a short discussion about the home, his company and his future goals.
LivingHomes' partnership with WIRED first originated as a result of the two organizations' mutual focus on good design and technology. The collaboration eventually led to the concept for the WIRED Home - a high-tech, futuristic and eco-friendly house based on a prefab model designed by renowned architect Ray Kappe. Glenn credited a lot of the new attention (and success) his homes had received over the past year to a renewed interest in green technologies and prefab architecture.
Glenn ascribed the decision to ask Ray Kappe to design the first model for his homes to the famed architect's "confluence of experience and values," lauding him for his vision in being among the first to embrace prefab homes and in leading the way with his use of energy-efficient, sustainable technologies. Describing Kappe as being one of his favorite architects, he cited his keen attention to craftsmanship and warmth - a combination which he noted was rare - as critical attributes he believed would show through his designs and thus appeal to a broader audience.
Shifting to LivingHomes' future plans, he told us that the company was considering several new designs - having recently signed on David Hertz, another noted architect - though he emphasized that expansion wasn't his current focus. Responding to criticism that his homes were simply too extravagant to be considered truly "green" - a point that we've often heard made both in the comments and on other sites - Glenn defended LivingHomes by saying that he was appealing to the segment of home buyers interested in buying large, pricier models.
Arguing that there was an institutional bias towards larger, more expensive homes, Glenn said his company was simply trying to provide a better, more eco-friendly alternative to some of the other McMansions available on the market. "You can either take a self-righteous man and say I won't be involved with bigger homes or you can say, if it's going to be done, it should be done in the right way," he explained.
He also cited his company's strict adherence to the LEED certification program - saying LivingHomes' policy is to never build anything less than a silver rating - as evidence for his company's focus on only building sustainable homes. Indeed, because the system penalizes larger homes, he explained that his designers often had to compensate by incorporating more resource-conserving, energy-efficient technologies.
The final bit of good news he had to share with us concerning the next models his company will be rolling out within the coming year was that they would be a big leap forward: both in terms of eco-friendly features and costs (we can't wait). Be sure to give the WIRED Home a whirl if you're in the LA area over the next few days and check out our exhaustive archive for more information (and pics) about the home and LivingHomes' portfolio.
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This is all very nice, but don't you have to be awfully rich to build or own a house like that. How do poor people be green? See my blog at http:/greendebate.blogspot.com
Isn't this horse dead yet? You'd think this was the first "green" house. I don't understand the hype about a multi-million dollar green mansion.
I fail to see anything outstanding here. 4000 sq. ft. mansions are ok if they are green? Isn't this like a McSalad? When did TH flip? I thought TH liked small homes, centralized kitchen, no rarely-used formal dining room, smaller garage, green roofs, solar panels, wind turbines, rain buckets and on and on and on. The love affair between TH and this house has revealed TH's weakness for excess and luxury, two things contrary to a small carbon footprint. I love the giant crane used to lift the pre-fab slices into place. They were using bio-diesel on that rig, right? They are probably busy fantasizing about His and Hers Teslas in the garage next to the V12 Hydrogen BMW that they earlier criticized.
So, could everyone have one of these? It's not really sustainable unless there is enough to share with the whole class. One person with a mega-yacht-jet-limo doesn't matter, but times 1 billion it does. Or maybe this is just for the rich? That sends the message that the not-rich are excluded. A great way to rally the troops, TH.
God that argument is tired. Name one technology EVER that didn't start off expensive and become cheaper. Rich early adopters are CRUCIAL to the adoption of new technology by the market.
Rich people buy free range eggs, organic veges, compact flourescent lights etc too - who do you think was putting up the cash at the start to help those things into the mass market?
As usual, Treehugger is focused on the false minority of the narrow but growing weathy market instead of real minorities. We need to be considering sustainable refugee camps, not mansions. Especially when water wars start. Who knows, that might affect a few wealthy folks! Dream On.
I got the WIRED Home supplement in my WIRED magazine. Those mansions didn't seem so "green"/"eco-friendly". They were equipped with huge screens, sound systems, and other technology and electronics. Just powering them up would require alot of energy.
speaking from the perspective of a dirt-poor college student:
trying to convert the wealthy to monastic ways of living seems a lot less fruitful than simply trying to convert them to greener ways of living, even if it is couched in the language of luxurious excess. as long as there is a top tier to society, there will be conspicuous patterns of consumption. the problem of sustainability requires different solutions implemented at different levels. there has not emerged a unified plan of action or ideology that will solve the problem for everyone, and it seems unlikely that anyone can impose one upon the world - people are diverse, just like the creatures in the biosphere that we seek to protect.
so why not let the rich and fabulous have their [organic, locally baked] cake and eat it too? we're not a tad jealous... are we? =)
I just wanted to say that there seems to be an awful lot of people leaving comments that are less than helpful.
Does everyone need to live life in an ultra compact shack and vehicle? Should comfort, fun, and everything else that makes life enjoyable have to be given up completely in order to please you?
If you think that refugee camps are a wonderful way to live, move to a third world country (or stay here) and build one. It seems to me that no matter how much progress is made in this area, many of you will always find something to complain about and criticize.
The fact that you are online leaving comments shows that you aren't exactly being environmentally friendly yourself. Computers are a huge waste of our resources and they are energy hogs for sure. Why aren't you in your tent reading a book by candel light or preaching around a campfire instead of increasing global warming and the depletion of our limited resources?
Do you have any pets? I do and guess what? They are a waste. The companies that make their food are not environmentally friendly. Nor are the medications, vet offices, grooming products and other items. Everything your pet requires has to be produced by a manufacturer and transported in big diesel trucks. unless you grow everything they consume yourself and compost their waste along with all of yours of course.
Clothing is another horrible item. Do you have sheets on your bed? Do you wear clothes? Do you know how environmentally unfriendly the manufacturing of clothing is? Your tie-dyed shirt isn't friendly to the environment, nor is washing it. Your Berkenstocks definitely aren't environmentally friendly either. I can go on and on.
If you want to pick apart the efforts of everyone else, I am sure we can all pick apart the life styles of every one of you as well. Any progress that is made is a step forward. So what if the house is 4000 sf? Not everyone wants to live in a tiny cell.
It seems some of you seem to be whining about how poor you are and are mad at the supposedly wealthy people in the world. If you have a problem with being poor than get off the internet and find a way to earn a better living. A better attitude will help you all as well I am sure. Nobody wants to hire or promote someone who is always whining and complaining about everything and crying about how unfair everything is.
Maybe all of you critics should meet up with each other. You can pool all your income and buy a small piece of land. You can build a tiny house out of old wooden garage doors like they do in Mexico. You can dig a deep hole and use some recycled wood scraps to build an enclosure over it (an outhouse if you haven't figured it out yet) and you can buy or build a small windmill and pool your money for some solar panels. There! Now you have your own little commune or refugee camp or whatever you want to call it. You can build a giant raincatcher for your water too. I will even donate my time to help show all of you how to make it happen. It isn't too hard and the whole project can be completed in one weekend. Are you ready to put up? If not, then maybe you should...well you know.
This is my first time to Tree Hugger or any other environmentalist site and I am shocked at how poor some of your attitudes are. It seems to me that sites like this may not be perfect, but can help spread the word about conservation and help people share ideas that can foster further innovation.
If you think it is so easy and think it can be done so much better, why don't you go create your own website and show companies like Tree Hugger how to do it. I think if you could really do it better, you would be. But instead you are here criticizing an effort to help further this cause.
Humans in general are not exactly environmentally friendly, but rather than picking apart the efforts being made, you should be supporting them, no matter how small the impact or how much further the effort should have gone. Unless your footprint is zero you have no room to talk.
Thanks Tree Hugger, if I hadn't found your link I would not know your site existed or that this house or car existed. Personally I think the fact that you are providing a place for people to learn and communicate with each other about issues is pretty cool.