Rebuilding New Orleans
REBUILDING GREEN WILL GET A LITTLE EASIER THIS WEEK
TIMES-PICAYUNE. October 4, 2008. By Molly Reid
Rebuilding a home after a major hurricane while holding down a job and keeping a family together is difficult enough. Rebuilding a home sustainably, using energy-efficient products and materials with a low environmental impact, is even harder.
Energy-conservation advocates and architects agree that investing extra time and money into a stronger, greener home yields significant rewards in energy savings. But green building poses questions -- "What makes a home green?" "Where do I find bamboo floors?" "How long will it take this tankless water heater to pay off?" -- that many homeowners may not feel equipped to answer.
To make fact-finding easier, the nonprofit Global Green will launch its "Build It Back Green" initiative Wednesday. Made possible by $400,000 in grants awarded earlier this year from Greater New Orleans Inc. and the Surdna Foundation, the initiative will target Road Home recipients with information and technical assistance to make green rebuilding easier.
Since Global Green opened its downtown resource center in early 2006, it has encouraged residents to visit for rebuilding information and workshops. Now the Build It Back Green initiative aims to take that knowledge to the neighborhoods, said executive director Beth Galante.
"The whole point of the program is to go to residents, instead of asking them to come to us, which can be kind of hard for people," Galante said. "There are a lot of grant recipients that have money in the bank, that are trying to figure out where to go with it. There's not a lot of information about cost, like payback period, upfront costs, and just where to buy things."
Workshops and seminars
With the grant money, which was used to create two full-time staff positions in addition to three AmeriCorps Vista members, Global Green plans to conduct workshops and seminars twice a week through different community organizations, church groups and neighborhood festivals, bringing fact sheets, presentations and technical resources, Galante said.
The organization is partnering directly with the Louisiana Recovery Authority to e-mail informational fliers and a needs-assessment survey to more than 20,000 Road Home applicants.
"We're going to let people tell us what they want, and try to be very reactive of people's needs," Galante said.