Hermosa Beach Family To Open Eco-Friendly Home To Public

HERMOSA BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A year after a Hermosa Beach family retrofitted their home with all-green features, they are showing off its benefits.

The so-called Green Idea House located in the 1500 block of Prospect Avenue will be open to the public on Saturday for a dedication ceremony.

The home, which features solar panels and recycled glass bathroom tiles, has won numerous environmental honors, including the 2012 Green Leadership Award for Los Angeles County.

It even has a laundry machine that recycles water directly to the garden hose.

"The nice thing is in the past year, the Green Idea House has created more than 2 megawatts of energy than it's consumed," said Owner/Builder Robert Fortunato. "So we're making much more energy than we've used and as a result of that, we can use that energy to power our electric car."

Southern California Edison is using the home as a model for its residential energy initiatives.