it does require more distance!!!
and i think the difference is the limited speed available during normal descents.
i am on another thread addressing the same subject-primarily asking for the location of an older thread that dealt with the same subject.
i know from experience, B737's, that when it is heavy, i need to start down farther away from the landing airport than when we are empty. we descend at roughly the same airspeeds, in any case limited by the barber pole, and the distance when heavy is more than when empty and light.
i agree "ace the technical pilot interview" deals with the subject poorly in such a way that it is not convincing at all. but it is true in fact.
in real life we never fly the optimum L/D ratio, nor the optimum angle of attack-which if we could, the distance glide ratio should be the same for heavy or light, but the resulting airspeed for the heavy would be greater and the rate of descent would also be greater-but all books i have read say that the distance/ratio should be the same.