FEBRUARY 1 2008
AMERICANWAY 45
position to buy a secondhome, we realized
that it was, of course, a ridiculous luxury,
and sowhatwe shoulddo is reduceour car-
bon footprint. That is exactly what we did
withour secondhome.”
The home is a 3,000-square-foot 1930s
bungalow turned contemporary Zen show-
case on the beach and is used for weekend
retreats from the Spanish-style home she,
Hall, and the children share in Los Ange-
les. Initially, with the second home, they
had simplyplanned to add a couple of bed-
rooms for theboys. But thenLouis-Dreyfus
andHallmetSantaMonica–basedarchitect
DavidHertz,who specializes in ecologically
aware architecture.WithHertz, they trans-
formed the entire house into a model of
ecological efficiency.
Its features include solarpanels that sup-
ply electricity andhotwater, plus a thermal
chimney, which pulls hot air out through
theroofanddrawsoceanbreezes in through
thewindows. Thehomewas remodeledus-
ing ecologically certified harvested woods
and recycled-newspaper insulation. And
the requisite hot tub is chemical-free. In
all, the home consumes half the electricity
an average home of the same size does, yet
it cost only about 15 percentmore to build
than a comparable home. Louis-Dreyfus
expects to recoup those costs innine years,
thanks to lower utility bills and Southern
California’s energy rebates. Oh, and there
are also two Toyota Priuses and a biodiesel
truck in thegarage.These lifestyledecisions
not only reduce the family’s carbon foot-
print, they alsogiveLouis-Dreyfus away to
feel “lessguilty” about theeffect sheandher
familyarehavingon the environment.
“I’m a consumer,” she told Grist.org. “I
love the creature comforts. Brad, on the
other hand, would live in a tent if he could.
I’m not the type to ride a bike to work ev-
eryday, but I’ll buyahybrid-engine car. I’m
not the type to cut back on hot showers,
but there’s no harm in hot water when it’s
warmedby the sun.”
Okay, but if you’renot aTV starwith the
ability tobuilda second, greenerhomeor to
buy three energy-efficient cars, howwould
Louis-Dreyfus advise you to go green? She
says you should just start with small deci-
sions. “It is just a question of making cer-
taindecisions that are greendecisions,” she
says. “It’s not like you have to work really
hard at being able to make those choices.
Whenyougo toStaples tobuy thepaper for
your printer or your fax machine, you can
either pickup regular pile paper or you can
go and pick up the postconsumer recycled
paper sitting right next to it. It looks the
same, it feels the same, and you just made
an environmental choice. Those choices are
everywhere forpeople tomake—andwith-
out losing anything in making the choice.
You’re gaining because you are making an
environmentally correct choice.”
MARK SEAL
is an
AmericanWay
contributing editor. His work
has also appeared in
Vanity Fair
,
Playboy
, and
Time
.
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