Press

RIALTO, CA — September 27, 2019 — Plant Prefab, the nation's first prefabricated design and manufacturing company dedicated to sustainable construction, materials, processes, and operations, announced today their "Plant Promise:" a commitment to being net carbon neutral by 2028. This announcement follows a Climate Pledge from Amazon, one of the company's investors, last week.

"We want to applaud and join others who are pledging to accelerate decarbonization," says Plant Founder and CEO, Steve Glenn. "We founded Plant to be the first firm dedicated to the highest level of sustainable design, operations and materials. Our promise is a commitment to being carbon neutral by 2028, which we'll achieve by our continued efforts to implement industry-leading sustainability standards that dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of our operations as well as the homes we produce."

Two core values at Plant are "Earth Day Every Day" and "Less is More," which for Plant implies a comprehensive and continuous effort to employ and improve materials and processes that are energy, water, and materially resource-efficient and that are safe for humans and the environment.

The Plant Promise builds upon the company's values, its innovative building methodology, and their rigorous environmental program, which has garnered significant industry recognition since its inception:

2006: Sustainable design studio, LivingHomes, debuts with the first home in the world to ever achieve LEED Platinum certification. The home also wins the COTE Award, the AIA's top sustainability award, as well as many other top design and sustainability awards. The studio uses many different builders in its first several years, striving to find one that meets its standards for sustainability, quality, and cost.

2016: Acknowledging the need for higher-quality, more sustainable, more reliable homebuilding, LivingHomes founder Steve Glenn founds Plant Prefab. LivingHomes becomes Plant's in-house design studio.

2018: Plant announces a new line of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) with industrial designer Yves Béhar, joining partnerships with architects including Ray Kappe and Kieran Timberlake, and signaling the company's intent and ability to expand their sustainable homebuilding methodology to all those wishing to build in a more efficient manner.

To date, twenty-seven residential units designed or built by Plant have achieved LEED Platinum certification, and another five LEED Gold — more than virtually any other home prefabricator in the United States. Plant has also developed their own internal environmental program for homes designed and built by the company. Called Z6, the program clarifies and quantifies the six key metrics they aspire to achieve or minimize: Zero Energy, Zero Water, Zero Emissions, Zero Carbon, Zero Waste and Zero Ignorance. To calculate, the company attributes a percentage for each metric and those with a score of 85% or above are considered achieved.

"Achieving carbon neutrality for our homes and operations has always been an important goal for us," says Glenn. "Therefore, in the homes we design and build, we integrate ultra-efficient LED lighting, HVAC systems, Energy Star appliances, recycled building materials, and high- performance insulation that exceeds code requirements. Almost all LivingHomes are powered by solar power and many were designed to be net zero electricity."

To reduce its carbon footprint, Plant has already invested in energy-efficient lighting, cooling, and machinery in its factory. The company plans to achieve its ambitious net zero target by continuing to improve its operations, and by utilizing renewable energy and carbon offsets.

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ABOUT PLANT PREFAB:
With a mission to make it faster and more cost-effective to build custom, high quality, healthy, single and multifamily homes, Plant Prefab is the first prefabricated residential design and construction company dedicated to sustainable building, materials, processes, and operations.

All Plant projects are prefabricated in the company's 62,000-square-foot home factory in Rialto, CA, with a patented building system that reduces build time by at least 50% over traditional construction while minimizing construction's negative impact on energy, water, and resources. Clients can work with any architect they choose or they can use Plant's award-winning, in-house design studio, LivingHomes.

Plant is defining a new standard in residential home design and construction, helping individuals, architects and developers alike efficiently design and build high-quality, cost-efficient, healthy homes. Plant was funded by Amazon, Obvious Ventures, and others.