Louis Tenenbaum is a carpenter and contractor. Louis completed his first home modifications in 1988. He was the first design build contractor specializing in home modifications for Aging in Place starting in 1991. Louis realized his greatest value for his clients was helping them decide what needed to be done. From that Louis developed the Independent Living Strategy process.
Since 1997 Louis has been speaking and training to groups of various disciplines and points of view on all aspects of Aging in Place and Universal Design. He works with builders, developers, equipment suppliers, designers, contractors, health and social professionals. He works with organizations that serve seniors as well as policy planners. Louis enjoys speaking and working with groups, seemingly growing more energetic as whole days pass.
Louis has appeared on World News Tonight with the late Peter Jennings, Home and Garden Television and the Retirement Living Network. He is quoted and published in many local, national and trade publications including Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, BusinessWeek, the Washington Post and HousingZone.com.
Louis is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist(CAPS), a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) program to train contractors and others to serve aging in place remodeling clients. Louis has served on the CAPS board of governors and is an approved instructor for the CAPS courses. Louis is also a Certified Active Adult Specialist (CAASH), an NAHB program to train building professionals about the business of creating new homes for older clients. Louis is an approved instructor for the Design for Active Adult course within the CAASH program.
Louis is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) 2007 Aging in Place Council. Louis is a member of the executive committee of the Dept of Education, NIDDRR funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Universal Design in the built environment and chair of the Business Advisory Panel.
Louis also works to make his own community better. He has been involved with the Montgomery County, Md senior provider network, the Grass Roots Organization for Seniors (GROWS), Prince William county, Howard county, and Montgomery county visitability efforts. He past president of Yachad and founded their Ramp It Up ramp camp program for high school students.
Clients and presentations include the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, the Horizon Foundation, the Administration on Aging, NIDRR, Department of Health and Human Services Office on Disability, AARP, Sanders Brown Center on Aging, Indiana University Institute on Aging, Disability and Community, The Kansas Occupational Therapy Association, National Association of Home Builders, American Society of Interior Designers, American Society on Aging, National Council on Aging, Southern Gerontological Society, The Maryland Department on Aging, American Association of Homes and Services for Aging, B’Nai Brith International, National Kitchen and Bath Association, Chicago Department on Housing, Rebuilding Together, Maryland Association of Counties, Howard County, Maryland Department on Aging, VGM Group, The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, Winchester Homes Division of Weyerhouser Corporation, AML Development, Slenker Land Corporation and many individual homeowners.
Louis has been skiing most of his life with family and friends, He enjoys white water kayaking and bicycling. Louis has been an Iyengar yoga student since 1981. Louis also enjoys spinning, and core strength exercise. He graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover in 1972 and the University of Michigan with a degree in Geography in 1976. He has been a licensed contractor in Michigan, Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C.
Louis lives in the Washington, D. C, suburb Potomac, Maryland with his wife and two children. Louis still loves to stay up late talking and discussing strategies to improve the world.