Rancho Mirage resident Ron Savin just wanted to figure out a way to cut his summer electric bills.

The retired Air Force colonel and chemical engineer started tinkering with white paints on his own roof two years ago, eventually developing a series of roof, pool and driveway coatings made with recycled rubber and glass. Hyperseal, the company he started in 2006, is one of the Coachella Valley's truly homegrown green success stories, now boasting millions in domestic and international sales.

The roof coatings, which reflect sunlight and heat, can cut air conditioning bills up to 50 percent, said company spokesman Loch Jones.

“We got the test results back on the reflectivity on the (roof paint),” Jones said. “They had to revise the scale. It used to go to 100, and now it goes to 107.”

With Savin continuing to tinker, the company's product line has grown from three to 11, Jones said, and the workforce of seven could also soon grow with the opening of new manufacturing and warehouse space in Palm Desert.

“All it takes is one huge order and we'll have to put on another shift,” he said.

K Kaufmann