Recently I met with Charlie Szoradi of Green and Save. He has been showcased on the cover of Inventor’s Digest for a heating and cooling system that is one of the most innovative "integrated" solar and dual fuel system available (SSI). He and his wife, Cynthia, have positively impacted our environment with an incredible project—they transformed a 1950’s 2-bedroom home into a 4-bedroom, environmentally stable home. It is powered completely with solar energy and has state-of-the-art recycled and energy-efficient appliances.
They incorporated material from the home that was already there. "We used old doors to make the cubbies in the mud room," Charlie says. "We used the old patio concrete pad as the backfill for landscape retaining walls and we cut down broken flagstone to use as new stepping stones and parts of the old wall as new landscaping borders."
They also incorporated recycled material. The Crown molding trim is from recycled composite plastic and saw dust, the ship’s ladder to the home office loft is from recycled aluminum and the carpet is from recycled fiber. "Overall," he adds. "By re-using and re-cycling you create less of a burden to use up the natural resources."
Setting out to change the mind-frame that "green" has to be expensive, Charlie and Cynthia discovered 60 ways to both implement environmentally friendly features and save money. In fact, they saved over $100,000.00 so far! Wow! Their goals were to:
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Save Money – Reduced Electric and Gas Bills
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Save Health – Less toxic environment
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Save the Planet – Less wasted resources
For their outdoor rooms, the couple salvaged and restored furniture. They also purchased (and recommend) a stainless steel grill as it is the most durable and will last the longest. See Rich’s grills available.
Check out before and after photos and read about the green AND money-saving features that Charlie and Cynthia implemented. The house is completely gorgeous-inside and out. Enjoy!
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