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(Hermosa Beach, CA Oct. 2010) Ribbon cutting for the first net-zero home recently took place in Hermosa Beach, California with local and state government officials, energy companies and over a hundred curious residents.
Fred Koch of KOCH Builders, (www.kochbuilders.net) a certified LEED builder, has been chosen as the contractor partner for the “Green Idea House” (www.greenideahouse.com) retrofit. This project has been chosen by Southern California Edison as the cornerstone case study for their net zero initiative.
The “green building” popularity has sky rocketed in 2010 because of a strong demand for energy efficient homes and the generous regional, state and federal government credits being given as added incentive.
Homeowner, Robert Fortunato has been planning this landmark home for over three years until finally devising a “dream team” of eco-building specials including designers, engineers, suppliers and most importantly a certified Build-It-Green General Contractor.
The house will include a number of green features including: solar panels, wind turbines, energy-efficient appliances and phase changing drywall that maintain optimal interior climate control. Building materials from the original home will be reused and recycled. Even the surrounding landscape includes selected California native, drought-tolerant foliage.
“Building a home with 100% self sustaining energy sounds like a futuristic science project, but with today’s affordable building technology, a splash of creativity and ingenuity, it’s now going to happen,” says Fred Koch, adding, “that’s not all,… the real ‘wow’ factor is that it’ll all be done within a conventional building budget!” This project was also the inspiration for the City of Hermosa Beach as they are attempting to become the first net-zero city in Los Angeles County and possibly the Western Hemisphere.