Rebuilding New Orleans
Emergency Response Studio (ERS) exhibited at Global Green's Holy Cross Project Visitor Center
Emergency Response Studio, by Paul Villinski, is a solar-powered, mobile artist's studio, repurposed from a salvaged FEMA-style trailer. This sustainably re-built, off-the-grid living and work space is designed to enable artists to "embed" in post-disaster settings, and respond and contribute creatively. Villinski conceived the project in response to the devastation of post-Katrina New Orleans as "a symbol of transformation and possibility for the communities of the Gulf Coast." ERS will be exhibited in Prospect .1 New Orleans, the largest exhibition of international contemporary art ever organized in the United States, which opens throughout the Cresent City November first, 2008.
Villinski's vision for ERS was realized through vital funding and in-kind donations from generous supporters, including Global Green USA.
GLOBAL GREEN USA LAUNCHES BUILD IT BACK GREEN
Initiative to Help NOLA Residents Save Money on High Utility Bills and Improve Health; Two Year Program to help thousands of Road Home Recipient Families Rebuild Green
New Orleans, LA - October 8, 2008 - As fuel adjustments drive energy bills sky-high in Louisiana, Global Green USA is offering a new program for the public to get information and advice on how to significantly reduce their energy use and improve their health with energy-efficient, non-toxic green building products and materials. Global Green’s “Build it Back Green” is a new initiative that will make it easier for Louisiana residents to learn how to find and install simple, cost-effective green products into their homes.
Through a dedicated website www.globalgreen.org/bibg, Global Green is now offering a comprehensive directory of green products and where to find them, information on how to take advantage of some of the statewide and federal incentives for green building, and other useful green building tips and advice. The program will also launch city-wide workshops tailored to specific neighborhood needs, and encourage community use of both the Global Green Resource Center on Carondelet Street and the Holy Cross Project¹s entirely sustainable Global Green House in the Lower 9th ward. Global Green hopes to educate and motivate those looking to not just rebuild their homes to be more energy-efficient, but to also be more storm resistant.
ONE TOUGH GREEN HOUSE
Global Green to reopen Holy Cross Home/Visitor Center in New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward. Green Features Built to Survive Storms and Fight Climate Change
New Orleans, LA - September 4, 2008 - Global Green USA New Orleans Director Beth Galante surveyed Global Green’s Holy Cross Project Visitor Center for the first time since Gustav hit the Gulf Coast today. The house, made possible with lead funding partner The Home Depot Foundation, was built specifically to withstand water and high winds, in addition to being a LEED Platinum home that generates all of its own electricity and will save future homeowners money on utilities while improving their health.
“As my fellow New Orleanians return home, I am excited that our model home can serve as a learning tool for families looking to rebuild tough green homes that are more likely to withstand future storms,” said Beth Galante. “With thousands of people already visiting this home, hopefully we’ve already begun to inspire a better way to rebuild.”
GLOBAL GREEN JOINS WITH RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT AND NEIGHBORHOOD TO CREATE FIRST MODEL FOR GREEN SCHOOL BUILDING
New Orleans - July 17, 2008 - Global Green USA has contributed $300,000 plus technical expertise to fund the transformation of the Andrew H. Wilson Elementary School into the first offical Model Green School, raising the bar for community rebuilding standards. Partnering with the Recovery School District, Global Green USA will rebuild and apply LEED Silver status green renovations to the school building that sustained severe damage due to levee failures after Hurricane Katrina.
On Thursday, July 17 at 2:00 p.m., a groundbreaking event will be held on the campus of the Wilson School to kick-off the important community alliance formed between Global Green USA, the Andrew H. Wilson Elementary School, the Broadmoor Improvement Association (BIA) and the Recovery School District (RSD) for redevelopment with a focus on modeling the latest in green, sustainable building.
FIRST HOLY CROSS GREEN HOME COMPLETED
Global Green and The Home Depot Foundation Bring Hope to Katrina Ravaged Neighborhood through Completion of New Healthy, Energy-Efficient, Green Homes
New Orleans, LA - May 15, 2008 - Global Green USA and The Home Depot® Foundation today celebrated the completion of the first green home built in the Lower Ninth Ward with residents and city officials from the Holy Cross neighborhood. This home, the first-of-its-kind completed in the area, will serve as a visitor center while the project, including five single-family homes, an 18 multi-unit apartment complex and a community center/Sustainable Design and Climate Action Institute, are completed.
Global Green’s Lower 9th Ward Showcase Home Includes Green Interiors by Domino Magazine
New Orleans, LA - April 10, 2008 - Global Green USA has partnered with domino magazine to decorate and furnish the first home to be completed in Global Green USA’s Holy Cross Project, with lead funding partner the Home Depot Foundation. Some of the interiors – as well as all of the green building features in the showcase home -- will be available for the public to view beginning next month when Global Green unveils its first completed home as a Visitor’s Center.
GLOBAL GREEN USA'S HOLY CROSS PROJECT: UPDATE
New Orleans, LA - November 21, 2007- Global Green USA's Holy Cross Project, the most significant new construction in the Lower Ninth Ward since Katrina, is being developed on a formerly vacant site with some former light industrial use that left behind what is known as a brownfield. As such, we are addressing the soil contaminants we have found, mostly some isolated pockets of lead that, as we understand from the previous owner, resulted from sandblasting related to the adjacent wharf activities. As an environmental group we are taking most aggressive remediation process available, and hope others will do same.
The Sustainable Rebuilding of New Orleans - Global Green Update
New Orleans, LA - October 5, 2007 - Two years after Katrina, much remains to be done. All basic infrastructure in the city has been restored—including electrical, water, and sewage. The city has completed its master planning process that has been approved at the State and Federal level and a significant portion of federal funds have just been released to the city of New Orleans. Several new investment and infrastructure projects are now also in the final planning stages.
The city has expressed a great interest in embracing green building, but up to this point has lacked the capacity and funding to incorporate those elements. The city is currently advertising for an energy policy manager to help implement the comprehensive energy planning that is currently underway.
New Orleans is poised to begin rebuilding in earnest and it is crucial that this nascent effort be aided by qualified green building experts including Global Green USA, the American affiliate of Green Cross International.
Global Green USA Tours Progress of First Green Home at Holy Cross Project with Lead Funding Partner, The Home Depot Foundation, and Design Competition Chair Brad Pitt
New Orleans, LA - August 21, 2007 – Global Green USA celebrated a milestone before the 2nd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by touring progress of their first affordable green home under construction. The Holy Cross project is one of the first new home construction projects to be built in the Lower 9th Ward. The home, whose solar panels will generate enough electricity to power the home, is expected to be LEED Platinum certified. It is being built with green products and energy efficient systems that will ultimately be included in the completed project of five single family homes, an 18 multi-unit apartment complex and a community center/Sustainable Design and Climate Action Institute. Brad Pitt (initial sponsor and chair of the sustainable design competition jury), Global Green USA® and The Home Depot® Foundation -- the project’s lead funding partner -- toured the home with local community leaders and unveiled the final design for the project.
Global Green USA Asks Public to Support $10 Million Campaign to Aid Green Rebuilding of New Orleans for Decade to Come
New Orleans, LA - August 21, 2007 - Global Green USA President Matt Petersen announced the second phase of its Capital Campaign seeking $10 million dollars for the final construction and ongoing operation of its groundbreaking Community Center/Sustainable Design and Climate Action Institute project.
The Institute will be a "Center of Excellence" for the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast that demonstrates all aspects of green building, said Petersen. It will also be a gathering place of information, knowledge and leadership generated by the sustainable design and green building activity in and around New Orleans in response to Hurricane Katrina.
Global Green USA Initiates Major Program to Help Schools Reduce Energy; Save Money
New Orleans, LA - June 7, 2007 - Global Green USA is proud to announce the selection of the first of its five "Green Seed Schools", A.P. Tureaud Elementary School at 2021 Pauger Street, in the 7th Ward of New Orleans.
The Green Seed School program, with support from a grant by the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, will help selected schools implement energy saving upgrades.
Each school will first receive an energy and indoor air quality audit which will then serve as a road map for targeted energy and air quality upgrades at the schools. Global Green USA will provide funding to enable the schools to implement many of the needed upgrades.
GLOBAL GREEN USA NAMES THE HOME DEPOT FOUNDATION ITS LEAD FUNDING PARTNER TO DEVELOP AFFORDABLE, HEALTHY HOMES IN NEW ORLEANS
New Orleans, LA - May 10, 2007 – Global Green USA® today named The Home Depot® Foundation its lead funding partner for a green affordable housing community in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. The Home Depot Foundation is the largest supporter of this project aimed at fostering support for “greening” the entire rebuilding effort in New Orleans.
The Holy Cross neighborhood will be rebuilt based on a winning design selected from among 125 concepts created by the top designers and architects for urban sustainable building from around the world. Brad Pitt combined his passion for intelligent architecture with Global Green’s commitment to green affordable housing and sustainable cities to co-create and chair the Sustainable Design Competition for New Orleans, announced last April. Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchen of Workshop/APD in New York created the winning design, which will be unveiled today.
"I'm so happy that this dream is going to become reality,” said Brad Pitt. “Today we are one small step closer to a future of smart design and a rebuilt New Orleans. We hope this project points the way to that future, and we want to thank the Home Depot Foundation for helping us take this important step."
GLOBAL GREEN USA UNVEILS GREEN SCHOOLS INITIATIVE; FIVE GREEN SEED SCHOOLS AND TWO SHOWCASE HIGH PERFORMANCE SCHOOLS
New Orleans, LA - May 10th, 2007 - Global Green USA celebrated the exciting expansion of its green rebuilding initiatives today at an event in the Holy Cross Neighborhood. Their New Orleans green schools initiative will 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.
