Global Green News
A Port in the Storm
AUDUBON MAGAZINE. SEPT-OCT 2009. By Renee Ebersole.
Four years after Katrina, New Orleans is still knocking the seawater from her ears. But along the banks of the Mississippi River, there’s a new sign of the times: a small collection of buildings that should provide a lifeline—not only in the next storm but also in the face of higher oil prices. These structures in the Holy Cross neighborhood in the city’s Lower Ninth Ward are built a solid seven feet above sea level (then elevated further by pilings) and outfitted with solar panels, a cistern system to collect water, and an array of details that earn them one of the highest energy-efficiency ratings in the country.
The project has been made possible by a partnership between Hollywood heartthrob and architecture buff Brad Pitt, the Home Depot Foundation, and the nonprofit Global Green, the U.S. affiliate of Green Cross International.
For Pitt’s part, he chaired a design contest calling for an energy-efficient green home design that would ultimately be built in Holy Cross’s mixed-income and racially diverse neighborhood, and eventually be inhabited by a Katrina survivor. Of the 125 designs submitted by architects and designers from around the world, the house by Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchen of Workshop/APD emerged as the winner. The judges liked that solar power produces all the house’s energy; its chemical-free construction materials; and the use of wood salvaged from storm-damaged buildings. The community gave high marks to a modern take on an architectural style common in New Orleans. “I’m so happy this dream is going to become a reality,” said Pitt when the project was announced. “Today we are one small step closer to a future of smart design and a rebuilt New Orleans.”
With three single-family homes built, Global Green will soon begin construction on an 18-unit residential building and a community center. The focus is on making everything “super green and also super affordable,” says Beth Galante, director of Global Green’s New Orleans office. “We’re trying to create a model so other people can pick up and build it. We don’t want to have a white elephant out there that no one can afford to replicate.”
