The Holy Cross Project
Global Green USA and New Orleans – an Overview
After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the inadequate response of the US Government, Global Green USA made a dedicated commitment to sustainable building in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. As part of that commitment, Global Green, in partnership with Brad Pitt, sponsored an international design competition during the summer of 2006, with more than 125 entries competing to design a zero energy affordable housing development in the Holy Cross Neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward. Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchen of Workshop/APD in New York created the winning design. With the Home Depot Foundation as lead sponsor, Global Green is now working with Workshop/APD and a dedicated and highly skilled team of sustainable design and building experts together with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association to translate the winning development proposal into a reality.
Sustainable Design Competition for New Orleans
As part of our commitment to the sustainable rebuilding of New Orleans and demonstrating green building as a solution to global warming nationally, Global Green USA - in collaboration with Brad Pitt as jury chairman- sponsored an international design competition during the summer of 2006. More than 125 entries competed to design a net zero energy affordable housing and community center development in the Holy Cross neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward.
It was estimated that If 50,000 of the homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina were rebuilt according to the green standards of set by the design competition, residents of New Orleans would save $38 million to $56 million in energy bills every year and eliminate over 1⁄2 million total tons of CO2 – the equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road.
The design jury selected six finalists, including three teams with New Orleans connections. The teams then worked with the technical jury and met several times with the Holy Cross residents to refine their designs. The finalists presented their refined concepts and designs to the design jury on August 29 and 30, 2006. The design jury selected the design by Workshop/apd, a young NYC firm.
