Clarum Founder, John Suppes

In the beginning

John Suppes founded Clarum Communities in 1995. His experience in the building industry dates back to the early 1980s, giving him more than 30 years experience. A very early adopter in the green-building movement, John was implementing sustainable building and design long before most of his cohorts. He began building zero-energy home communities in the early 2000’s.

John Suppes – Founder

Earliest influence

John’s mother, Joanne Suppes, was a big influence. She studied architecture at Harvard University in the 1950s. Joanne often drove her children around San Francisco, explaining how buildings could have been designed more attractively, to catch more light, to blend into the natural surroundings.

Transforming the way homes are built

With 30 years experience in building new home communities, apartment communities, and affordable housing communities, John brings his green building experience and expertise to each and every community he designs and builds. He is constantly raising the bar and bringing the latest and best technologies to home building. As a result, John is a frequent and sought-after speaker – he has spoken throughout California at conferences and in universities about green building.

Clarum Communities: Notable Achievements

Under John’s leadership, Clarum Communities built the first solar community in Santa Cruz County and participated in building research projects with both Davis Energy Group and the U.S. Department of Energy Building America Program. Clarum has also built demonstration homes to test state-of-the-art energy efficiency technologies, including five Idea Home projects with Sunset Magazine.

Other Accomplishments

• Created the “Enviro-Home” – Clarum Communities near zero energy home and included the Enviro-Home features in all homes as a standard feature.
• Won the Governor’s award for Environmental & Economic Leadership for building the largest near-zero energy home community in California.
• Built an affordable housing community with the largest solar system in California on an affordable apartment home community – 60kW solar electric system.
• Has raised the bar by going beyond near zero energy homes to LEED certified homes in production communities.
• Built the first LEED Gold community in Contra Costa County.
• Became a certified Passive House consultant in 2010.
• Built the first passive home in Menlo Park and San Mateo County and is moving towards building near zero energy passive homes in production communities.
• Built the first registered LEED Platinum multi-family community in Palo Alto.
• Built the first net zero office building in Palo Alto.