LivingHomes LEEDs the Way

Date: August 29, 2006 | Category: Green Building

I’ve written before about the importance of fundamentally rethinking how we design and manufacture products. A great ‘living’ example of this is LivingHomes, the prefab modern homes company. They’re a leader in a new category of home builders that increase efficiency and reduce waste by building homes in a factory instead of stick building on site. Their dramatic first model home is complete and open for viewing in Santa Monica, CA. In addition to its physical beauty (designed by Ray Kappe), it is really smart - the first residential home in the country to receive coveted LEED Platinum certification. Everybody loves platinum and in the case of buildings getting it is extra challenging - only twenty commercial buildings have ever achieved this status. LivingHomes did it through an unrelenting focus on sustainability throughout the entire process. In addition to offering lovers of modern design an intelligent, affordable and easy building option, LivingHomes intends to add more celebrity architects’ original designs. Even if these high-design homes never catch on with mainstream America, they are likely to inspire architects and designers that think being better is too constricting and expensive. Someday we’ll all live sustainably, and some of us will do it in style