Earth Month was kicked off on April 6 by the dedication of the “The Green Idea House,” a Hermosa Beach family’s affordable retrofit of their house into a net zero energy, zero carbon case study. The house, located at 1556 Prospect Ave., is owned and was built by Robert Fortunato, and won the 2012 Green Leadership Award for L.A. County, the 2012 Environmental Leadership SEED Award and Build It Green’s Green Point Rated Builder of the Year Award in the Custom Builder Category. It is also the cornerstone case study for Southern California Edison’s Net Zero Energy Initiative to make all new residential buildings net zero energy by 2020.
Fortunato and his wife were inspired to embark on building a green house after seeing black soot on their son’s windowsill.
“I called the AQMD (Air Quality Management District) and they said it was burned carbon and it causes heart disease, lung disease and cancer,” said Fortunato. “I looked around and said, ‘We’re contributing to that,’ and that’s a problem.”
So they began retrofitting their home of 15 years to be more energy efficient and comply with the Public Utilities Commission goal for all new construction to be net zero energy by 2020. They expanded their 1,300 square-foot home to a larger 2,100 square-foot space, and even with a bigger physical footprint, the home now uses 75 percent less energy than the old house.
“It’s radical how good it worked, and it even costs less than standard construction,” said Fortunato.
According to Fortunato, original estimates for construction initially ranged from $600,000 to $1 million. In the end, by reusing materials and after researching other eco friendly homes, the Fortunato family paid $420,000.
According to the house’s website, greenideahouse.com, the Green Idea House harvests more renewable energy than it uses. Over 97 percent of the home’s construction waste was also recyclable, and thus kept out of landfills.
“Some of this stuff’s ancient technology,” said Fortunato, who explained that to efficiently use their surroundings cave dwellers often lived in caves that faced south to naturally heat and cool the space with the seasons. “Everybody thinks it’s got to look like a spaceship and be expensive… but we have a five foot overhang in front of the house and it faces southwest…it passively heats and cools the house, for free. We sort of lost our way and [have] forgotten that sort of technology.”
He also incorporated a “thermal chimney,” in the stairwell to naturally circulate air throughout the house without a fan.
Fortunato partnered with Southern California Edison, the City of Hermosa Beach, Build it Green and Deep Roots Garden Center along with other local, state-wide and international organizations to prove that an affordable green house is possible. The dedication occurred a year after completion so the builders would have data to measure their success.
“Not only did we hit our goal (of zero emissions), we knocked it out of the park,” said Fortunato, and added they harvested an extra two megawatts of energy. “We plug that into the car so we don’t have a gas bill as well.”
Local green advocate Dency Nelson, as well as actor/environmentalist Ed Begley Jr., spoke at the event. Councilman Michael DiVirgilio acted as emcee and tours were given throughout the day. Visit www.greenideahouse.com for more information. ER
