Contact
Jeanne Nathan
504.218.4807
nathan@creativeindustryusa.com

Ruben Aronin
310.526.8907
raronin@globalgreen.org

GLOBAL GREEN USA UNVEILS GREEN SCHOOLS INITIATIVE IN NEW ORLEANS; GROUP TARGETS FIVE GREEN SEED SCHOOLS AND TWO SHOWCASE HIGH PERFORMANCE SCHOOLS THROUGH BUSH CLINTON KATRINA FUND GRANT

Initiative Kicks Off with Calls for New Orleans K-12 Students to submit art and poetry that will be featured at an Aerial Art Showcase Celebrating the Green Rebuilding of New Orleans

New Orleans, April 24, 2007 - Global Green USA today announced an exciting expansion of its green rebuilding initiatives in New Orleans that will help benefit thousands of students and teachers by providing technical assistance and resources to local schools.  The goal of the high performance schools initiative is to create healthier classrooms and more energy efficient schools that in turn improve student performance and save money for school districts, while helping protect the environment and reducing global warming. The initiative has been made possible by a grant from the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund.

Green Seed Schools

The initiative will begin with the selection of five schools to be designated as “Green Seed Schools” that will receive assistance and resources to improve energy and water efficiency, improve indoor air quality, and if feasible, on-site renewable energy generation. The five schools will receive technical assistance, training, informational materials, general oversight assistance in implementing the program, and up to $75,000 in grant funds towards specific improvements. The school selection process will be announced in early May. 

Showcase Green Schools  

A second and more ambitious phase of the program will result in the creation of high performance showcase green schools including the major rehabilitation of two schools over the course of the next two years.

“Across the U.S. in different cities, we have seen high performance schools create a better learning environment for students and reduce energy and water costs by 20% to 40%,” said Matt Petersen, President and CEO of GlobalGreen USA.  “Test scores improve by 20% to 22% in green schools, and can lead to fewer absences due to improved indoor air quality," said Petersen.

“We hope to not only make these schools selected for the Green Seed and the Showcase projects more energy efficient and healthy for students and teachers, but to encourage schools throughout the city -- and the state --to adopt green building principles,” said Beth Galante, Executive Director of Global Green New Orleans.

Global Green Aerial Art Sketch and Poetry Showcase

In addition to building green schools, Global Green is spearheading an innovative environmental education effort in ten schools that includes an Art and Poetry Showcase.

In early May, as part of the green schools announcement event, Global Green USA will present an exciting large-scale human art mural - with the assistance of aerial artist John Quigley of Spectral Q -- which will be photographed from the air during a “Green Schools Field Trip.”

The design of the mural will be selected from sketches entered by New Orleans schools students. Selected poems written by New Orleans students will also be read during the exhibition. The presentation will be the culmination of several weeks of work by hundreds of students at ten New Orleans schools who have been asked to submit drawings or poems reflecting themes related to New Orleans culture and nature.

"The human aerial art mural teaches cooperation and creates a unifying team photo that serves as a lasting reminder of the lessons of the program,” said aerial artist John Quigley. “It’s a creative way to engage kids to be energy aware and community minded, while inspiring a sense of ownership over their future."
 
All New Orleans school children, K-12, may submit drawings and
poems through May 1st.  The work will reflect the theme of “Rebirth of New Orleans.” (Previous work can be viewed at www.globalgreen.org/aerialimage).

Sketches and poems can be sent to:
The Green Schools Initiative Art and Assembly Program Spring 2007
841 Carondelet St.
New Orleans , LA 70130

The Green Schools Initiative is the second major Global Green initiative in New Orleans. In August 2006 Global Green announced the selection of architects to design a multi-family residential development in the Holy Cross area of the Lower Ninth Ward that will be built according to green principles.

Global Green USA’s Green Building Resource Center has been open to the public since April 2006, and has also been providing extensive educational green building workshops and panels on a monthly basis since the fall of 2006. The green building workshops and panels take place at Global Green USA’s permanent New Orleans office and Resource Center which is located at 841 Carondolet Street. The Resource Center is open to the public 20 hours a week where green materials are on display, and staff is available to help citizens, builders and others learn about green materials and building principles.

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Global Green USA is a national environmental organization that merges
innovative research, cutting-edge community based projects and targeted
advocacy to create a sustainable future. Global Green USA has helped green nearly $20 billion in affordable housing, school, college and municipal building construction through technical assistance, partnerships, advocacy, and education. The organization has written, and implemented green building, energy efficiency, and solar power guidelines in addition to legislation and incentives at the local, state, and federal level. It has also pioneered partnerships with countless non-profits and government agencies. Please visit www.globalgreen.org for more information.

Spectral Q has created 75 human aerial art images involving nearly 100,000 people around the globe. From icebergs in Antarctica to the disappearing arctic ice shelf, to landscapes all over North America and Europe, these images have generated extensive global media coverage. The mission of Spectral Q is to cultivate creative expression and to facilitate collaborative art for the common good. Past images have focused on the issues of global warming, peace, human rights, freedom and protecting the environment. Spectral Q has worked with over 50,000 school children through environmental education programs that teach individual responsibility, cooperation, artistic expression, and that each student's actions make a difference.