Southern California this weekend will play host to two events with green appeal for builders, designers, and consumers

Huntington Beach, the Southern California town that markets itself as Surf City, has some impressive housing stock, which is one reason the Huntington Beach Educational Foundation’s Annual Home & Garden Tour, the foundation’s biggest fundraiser, has entered its eighth year.

One green highlight of the upcoming tour, which is scheduled for Saturday, is a net zero energy home (not yet completed) only two blocks east of Pacific Coast Highway, which separates the town’s residential and commercial areas from its impressive beach and the cold, rugged waves that attract surfers to the area.

Being built by Living Green Homes Construction & Development, based in Huntington Beach, the two-story home is aiming for a GreenPoint rating – Huntington Beach’s first – under Build It Green guidelines. Living Green Homes expects construction to be completed in July and, before the home is sold, likely will use it as a showcase for green construction techniques and products.

Amy Dryden, GreenPoint rated project manager for Build It Green, told the Orange County Register the home is one of nine such projects she is aware of in Orange County, including two other single-family homes, two subdivisions of single-family homes, and four multifamily developments.

Meanwhile, farther up the coast, the 2009 Alternative Building Materials & Design Expo will be held 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

Build It Green, along with more than 150 other exhibitors who specialize and green building design and materials, energy efficiency, alternative energy, water conservation, environmental plumbing, sustainable landscape, waste management, and utility and municipal services.

And you can’t beat the admission price, which is free.