
Want to give your home a green remodel? See how beautiful your newly eco-fied home can look by taking a tour of the ZENERGY House, a new comprehensive green remodel in Studio City.

Unlike the brand new LEED Platinum-certified eco-mansions that tend to get all the attention, ZENERGY House is a more modest one-story home originally built in 1950. Having toured the place, I have to say ZENERGY House still seems mansion-like compared to my 500-square-foot apartment — but apparently this 2,450 square foot home with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms reflects the size of the average American home.

The size may be average, but the cutting edge eco-features at ZENERGY House are not all easy to replicate in an average American home. While a family does actually live in the place, the net zero energy ZENERGY House isn’t a remodel undertaken just by that family. It’s a showcase green home, put together by a consulting firm called Residential Energy Assessment Services, intended to serve as an uber green space for seminars, tours, and other green events. Thus, the place is tricked out with all the expensive green gadgetry, furniture, and materials offered by sponsors eager to showcase their products in front of a green-minded L.A. audience.

Still, many eco-features — from very simple ones like foam insulation for hot water pipes to more complex solar panel installations for the house and pool — are easy and cost effective (taking into account future savings as well as current government rebate programs) to incorporate into an average remodel. And some of the remodeling decisions included a choice to refurbish and reuse existing materials instead of buying new stuff — even if the new items may have been made with eco-friendly materials.

Plus, ZENERGY House gives visitors a look at eco-home features that will hopefully soon become affordable, if not de rigueur — and a sense of how beautiful a green home can look. The home’s green at all levels, from sleekly-designed energy-efficient appliances, reclaimed wood floors (above; visitors are given booties to wear indoors), and a backyard edible garden — to small details like organic cotton duvet covers with gorgeous prints, recycled PET clothes hangers, and even 3D “wall ruffles” made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper (below).

Not all features will please all greenies. Yes, the house does have a pool — solar heated, but one that does require a lot of water in an area currently in a drought (Christine Duong at Duong Designs has already complained about this, and I agree with her) — and yes, the house does have a large garage — as mandated by Los Angeles building codes. And I’m guessing some of the more expensive decorative features will not find favor with the ubergreen compact types (does one NEED 3D “wall ruffles” and an expensive bamboo iPod dock?). But from the sloped-to-conserve-water front lawn to the cute FSC-certified “Barking Teak” dog furniture (below), I found a lot to love about ZENERGY House.

Want to see ZENERGY House in person? Public tours — led by students from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts who’ve learned about the eco-features and trained as green docents — will begin soon. Check the ZENERGY House website in the coming days for details. All the features, gadgets, and products used in the house are fully detailed and documented — with an entire room of boxes containing brochures from sponsors (above) — so if you find something you like, you’ll easily be able to find out how to get it for your own home.




The ZENERGY House will display a rain barrel from the L.A. Rainwater Harvesting Program. If you want to stay updated on how the City of LA is planning to expand the program, make sure to sign up for the LA Stormwater e-Newsletter http://tiny.cc/eatxv
Comment by LA Stormwater — April 5, 2010 @ 5:00 pm
i luv it! i hope to build an eco-house in the future. Slowly but surely i will be green complete.
Comment by Green Chick — April 5, 2010 @ 7:40 pm
I like seeing green remodels that are something the average family could do or afford to live in. I for one, wouldn’t think that a larger garage would be a bad eco point. If it has enough room for our two small cars AND room to put in a work bench so I have a proper place to fix and revamp items and save them from the landfill, I’d call it a win!
Condo Blues´s last blog ..Fabkins Earth Day Giveaway!
Comment by Condo Blues — April 5, 2010 @ 7:58 pm
thanks for linking to me. the homeowner found me and corrected/addressed some of my concerns.
great coverage of a great house…hoping more Angelenos will be inspired.
Comment by Duong Designs — April 6, 2010 @ 9:15 am
I love this home! Streamline smooth – although I’m personally not crazy about the choice of pink & think those 3D wall ruffles will require a handful of extra work dusting (not my favorite pastime.) I’ve always envisioned a blend of aesthetics where Asian meets Arts & Crafts to lesson an overtly stiff modern tone, adding comfy character to the decor. Recycling antiques or used furniture is a good way to do this.
Trudee Lunden´s last blog ..Trudee Lunden Happy Easter! Bring on the yolks! :-)
Comment by Trudee Lunden — April 6, 2010 @ 1:04 pm
Thanks for celebrating with us at the opening and for your wonderful write up.
We’ll get the schedule for future events/presentations up on the site by the end of next week.
btw- sick Vers bamboo ipod dock with energy efficient class D amplifier is not too bad @ $220.
Comment by Tammy — April 6, 2010 @ 9:35 pm
Trudee — The frilly pink room was a girl’s bedroom, so it’s possibly that the frou frou aesthetic is hers :)
Comment by Siel — April 14, 2010 @ 2:33 pm
This house looks amazing. I really like the design of it all.
I love the 3d wall ruffles. Lol
Ben´s last blog ..Get the Most Out of Your Home Improvement
Comment by Ben — September 28, 2010 @ 1:49 pm