Meet Loren Green of Greens Home Design in Buckeye

Today we’d like to introduce you to Loren Green.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Loren. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
From the time I was little playing with Legos and Lincoln logs I always wanted to design buildings. When I was in 1st grade a drawing I did at school got a blue ribbon at the county fair. Horses were my favorite thing to draw. As I got older I got addicted to computers. Lucky for me cad programs have come along at the right time. When I began junior college I thought majoring in drafting and pre-engineering would help me when I transferred to Architecture school. When we were going over our designs in a studio class one of the professors made a comment. He said that it was “nice” that I had put the design into a 3d cad model. He said it in such a way that I felt that I had wasted my time and it was just a novelty. That is when I got the impression that my love of computers, calculators and building science was just getting in the way of obtaining an architecture degree. In the last semester in the Architecture school, I was just understanding how to give them what they wanted.

By then it was too late to apply for the upper division. The teacher mentioned the construction school. I checked into it. All the required classes were nearly the same, except with some business classes added. Three years later and 205 credits I got my Bachelor of Applied Science in General Building Construction. After graduation, I worked for ADOT doing construction schedules. Then I did a power plant construction schedule. Then an opportunity to draft custom homes for a custom builder came my way. I have been through many ups and downs in the market since I made that change in 2001. I have always liked the quote by Vitruvius that says: “Wherefore the mere practical architect is not able to assign sufficient reasons for the forms he adopts; and the theoretic architect also fails, grasping the shadow instead of the substance.” I learned to design in an environment where I have seen all the financial and constructability issues involved in building a home. This allows me to think of every project from both an artistic and practical aspect.

Over the years I have had many successes and learning experiences. Recently I have been honored to become certified by the Rosie on the House Referral Network. There are over 1200 companies in Arizona trying to get on that exclusive network.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In the construction market, there are always busy times and slow times. When the market crashed in 2007 there was no work to be found. Nobody would give someone with a bachelors degree a lesser job in fear that I would leave as soon as something good came along. I decided to diversify my skills. I studied and trained to become a licensed Home Inspector. I learned many new things that help me today. It was enough to get me through the lean times. I have recently put my license on inactive status because the market is in such a busy time now that it wasn’t profitable to maintain.

Greens Home Design L.L.C. – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company does home design. We create dream home plans and remodel plans. We create the construction documents required to get the proper building permits. My company tagline is “Where Art and Building Science Come Together.” I choose that because of the quote from Vitruvius. There are many that just sell a pretty rendering. We also obsess, sometimes too much, over the economic impact of what we design. A house without a well-located septic system or a place to run the duct work is useless to the client. Would you buy a car without an engine? Why would you buy plans that haven’t been fully thought out?

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The best accomplishment so far has been making it into the Rosie On The House Referral Network. Rosie Romero and his son Romy have a Saturday morning radio show. They are on several stations in Arizona. I had heard their show many times. One day I decided to see if they would consider me for membership. I sent them an email. They replied that they had others in my category and there wasn’t a spot available. I didn’t think anything of it for the next five years. Then one day out of the blue they invited me to apply. I turned all the paperwork in for the extensive screening process. Much to my surprise, they welcomed me in.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.greenshomedesign.com
• Phone: 602-326-4061
• Email: lgreen@greenshomedesign.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/GreensHomeDesign/

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