Hermosa's Greenest House of Them All

When Hermosa Beach resident Robert Fortunato walked into his newborn son’s room 10 years ago, he noticed something strange outside the window: soot.

The dusty, black residue left by combustion engines, chimneys, and more.

That’s when Fortunato decided to build the Green Idea House—a "case study" net zero energy home.

"We [Robert and wife Monica] lived abroad for two years and… In relation to the rest of the world, we [Americans] consume so much more energy and it just gave us a perspective from which to come at this project and ask, what do we actually need," Fortunato said.

From there, Fortunato, who acts as the general contractor for the project, set out to overhaul his house, picking up crucial partners in the process to help make the house as environmentally friendly as possible.

Southern California Edison signed on to help with the engineering, while Hermosa Beach has provided support through the design and construction process. 

"We spent four to five years in working through the engineering and architecture process to get to the point where we were actually ready to build," Fortunato said, adding that the was last year in October.

Once the house is completed, which Fortunato said he hopes will be by Earth Day next year, it will have zero net energy consumption as well as zero carbon emissions—the same emissions that Robert feared were outside of his son’s bedroom 10 years ago.

Twenty-six photovoltaic solar panels will make the house completely electric, while an advanced heat pump hot water tank will boost the house’s efficiency. 

No gas appliances will be used in the home.

"Hot water is the hardest thing to make from an energy perspective. We’re using an advanced heat pump hot water technology, which will be 238 percent efficient," Fortunato said. 

Some features simply required creative thinking, such as a five-foot overhang on the roof that will shade the house during hot summer months, negating the need for air conditioning.

A thermal chimney ventilates the house by pushing warm air upward through a set of windows. And, wood fiberboard is being used where it can in place of plywood since it is formaldehyde-free.

"The least expensive thing that you can do is proper air sealing. We’re using a non-toxic caulk, so that when we are long gone and somebody deconstructs [the building] all that stuff will be turned into dirt," Fortunato said. 

Another way that the Fortunato family chose to go green was by reusing more than 95 percent of the home’s building material. 

Old wood planks and cement from the old house were used in the construction of the new house, which at 2100 square feet will be 800 square feet bigger than the old house.

Overall, Fortunato’s focuses throughout the project have been on energy, green building, and affordability, cutting down on waste and toxicity, and contributing to a "maintenance-free living."

"I want a maintenance-free building that I could walk away from for months," Fortunato said. "I love the thought that it doesn’t cost me that much and it actually helps me live the full expression of my life, and that’s really what we’re going for."

He added that he hopes his family’s efforts encourage the rest of the Hermosa Beach community to consider green building.

"Monica and I have a goal to educate our son, to say that anything is possible if you approach it the right way and with the right attitude. You have to be willing to give some of yourself in order to do that, and in this case, we’ve been giving an extraordinary amount of time and resources in helping other people’s understanding," Fortunato said.

Earlier: Green Idea House is Now Shovel Ready