There are three reasons to go green, said Ted Baumgart, Valley Solar Amigos coordinator.
“It’s affordable, it’s smart, and it’s easy to get done,” he said.
Members of the Valley Solar Amigos feel strongly about saving energy and decided public education is what’s needed most, Baumgart said.
The home tour allows the public to see different systems that can be integrated into their lifestyle, said Ellen Mackey, whose Sun Valley home has been on the tour for about 10 years.
“I think people don’t know what to do,” she said. “They become paralyzed when the enormity of the task is before them.”
Mackey suggests starting out by simply changing the light bulbs and insulating walls.
“We want to empower and inspire people to create these changes because it’s easier than they think,” she said. “But you need to see it done and pulled all together.”
This is the 16th time Baumgart has shown his La Crescenta home on the tour. His home will be open only on Saturday. A conceptual designer for film sets and theatrical musical tours, he does a lot of the design and welding work on his house.
The center of Baumgart’s home features a rock, concrete and steel wall with a trickling waterfall that was built during a remodel in 1994. It helps keep the house so cool during the summer, his energy bill is just $15 a month.
Baumgart’s designs are very much along the lines of Antonio Gaudi, Spanish Catalan architect of the Art Nouveau movement, said his neighbor Stuart Byles, who is an architectural designer and home builder.
“Gaudi is more known for bringing natural forms into architecture, and that’s what Ted has done in his house,” Byles said.
