Great Park Showcases the ABC Green Home

IRVINE – The future of energy-efficient home building is now on display at the Orange County Great Park in a new educational exhibit called the ABC Green Home. This “Affordable. Buildable. Certified.” demonstration home is designed to be a Net-Zero energy house, meaning it generates as much energy from solar panels as it consumes.

The State of California is seeking to make Net-Zero energy homes mandatory for all new home construction by 2020. The ABC Green Home was built through a partnership between Southern California Edison and Green Home Builder magazine as a tool to educate and train home builders, students, industry groups and the general public about how Net-Zero energy homes can be built today. Noted architect Manny Gonzalez of the KTGY Group designed the 1,700 square-foot, Craftsman-style ABC Green Home in response to the lack of affordable, entry-level, certified green homes being built by production homebuilders.

The ABC Green Home, which will receive six green certificates by four different agencies, including the NAHB National Green Building Standard, California Advanced Homes, and Energy Star, is designed to be affordable and buildable by any builder on any lot with construction materials available at any local builder supply store.

“With the opening of the ABC Green Home, visitors can experience and learn about the latest in energy efficiency at the Great Park,” said Beth Krom, Chair, Orange County Great Park Corporation. “This Net-Zero energy ‘House of the Future’ exemplifies the Great Park’s mission to promote sustainability and education, and provides a perfect preview of the innovative spirit and technology that will be on display at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon coming to the Great Park in October 3-13, 2013.”

Touring the ABC Green Home

The ABC Green Home will be open to the public for self-guided tours beginning Friday, October 12. The ABC Green Home will be open to the public Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. This schedule is subject to change.

During these hours, experts from Southern California Edison will be on site to answer questions and explain how these technologies can work in your own home.

To inquire about scheduling guided tours of the ABC Green Home, members of the general public and interested groups are encouraged to email their inquiry to [email protected].

The ABC Green Home will be on display at the Great Park for the next year and open to the public. Eventually, it will be donated to Habitat for Humanity and given to a wounded service person.

The Orange County Great Park is located at Sand Canyon and Marine Way, and can easily be reached by the 5 or 405 freeways.

For more information, visit, please visit www.ocgp.org or call 866-829-3829.

About Southern California Edison An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.

About Green Home Builder magazine Since 2006, Green Home Builder has published quarterly magazines in print and online by Newport Beach, Calif.-based Peninsula Publishing Inc., publishers of business management magazines for homebuilding professionals since 1990. For more information, visit www.greenhomebuildermag.com.

About the Great Park Hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over Southern California enjoy the Orange County Great Park’s array of recreational and educational opportunities, including panoramic views from the iconic Great Park Balloon that rises 400 feet in the air. In addition to free sports clinics, gardening workshops, weekly Farmers Market and other community events, the Great Park hosts an annual series of special events that provide unique experiences for the entire family, including the Growing the Park: Anniversary Celebration, Great Park Pumpkin Harvest, Great Night! Family New Year’s Eve, and the Flights & Sounds Summer Festival. With its approximate 1,300-acre master plan, the Great Park is the centerpiece of the redevelopment of the publicly-owned portion of the 4,700-acre former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. For more information, please visit www.ocgp.org.