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New Orleans being rebuilt with environment in mind
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While recent energy news has been dominated by the acceleration of smart grid electric technologies around the U.S., select New Orleans homes are receiving a different type of help to cut down on energy costs and global warming.
As part of the Make it Right development, spearheaded by actor Brad Pitt, 50 homes have so far received solar photovoltaic panels, National Geographic reports.
Louisiana, which has some of the country’s best incentives for renewable energy, is playing host to numerous projects including Pitt’s, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s Global Green in the Lower Ninth Ward and the Pontchartrain Park Neighborhood Association organized by actor Wendell Pierce. The projects are hoping to show how an upfront investment in clean energy can benefit communities and homeowners for years to come.
Robert Green, who lost his mother and granddaughter when the Industrial Canal levee broke during Hurricane Katrina, moved into his Make It Right home in July 2009. Like the other houses, his was built with solar electric panels that can generate up to three kilowatts of energy, and is equipped with Energy Star appliances and a tankless water heater, according to the magazine. The house also came with low-emissions carpeting and paint.
Green says the house gives him "a sense of security," and the energy savings aren’t bad either. His electricity bill has plummeted from more than $300 a month in his previous house to $170 a month in his FEMA trailer and now has settled at a low $125 in his new home.
Louisiana State Senator Nick Gautreaux has supported solar efforts that can cut energy bills in half. Known as the "father of the Louisiana solar energy industry," Gautreaux sponsored and helped to pass a law that provides residents with a 50 percent tax credit for homes that install wind generators, solar electric systems and solar water heaters.
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