This California house generates more energy than it uses : NPR

HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — With utility bills rising faster than inflation , a house that produces more energy than it consumes might sound appealing.

Robert Fortunato's " Green Idea House " has been doing that for over a decade. He remodeled his family's 1959 house into a 2150 square foot environmentally friendly home, and he says he did it for less than the cost of a traditional remodel.

"It's one of the first net-zero energy, zero carbon case study houses that was built for less cost than standard construction," he says, and the remodel involved "standard construction materials and off-the-shelf technologies that anyone can use."

Shepherding such a project requires a lot of time and energy from the homeowner. There's research and planning, some stubbornness when it comes to work