The Green Restoration of Historic New Orleans

Over the past two weeks, hundreds of building professionals, students, and generally interested members of the public convened in New Orleans to kickstart the restoration of the Holy Cross Neighborhood in the Lower Ninth Ward. There have been many restoration projects in the Katrina-ravaged city, but what sets this one apart is how it brings green building practices to the efforts.

Historic Green New Orleans aims to “increase energy efficiency throughout the community; enhance the community by focusing on quality of life, housing and transportation; protect the wetlands; and help create the nation’s first carbon-neutral community.” It will accomplish this through a series of projects–currently, eleven are planned–that includes free consultation services for homeowners, bayou restoration, community education on rainwater gardens, and rebuilding a playground.

This ideal carbon-neutral community would be the lower Ninth Ward, one of the areas of the city hardest hit by Katrina. Over 6,000 people were displaced by the hurricane, and only about 20% have been able to return to their homes. With extraordinary damage done by three weeks of up to 10 feet of standing water, the area has attracted plenty of media attention as well as the notice of sustainable community activists.

The current focus on the neighborhood of Holy Cross is meant to serve as an example for reconstruction of the rest of the Ninth Ward. Holy Cross is a bit easier to tackle than much of the Ward because it sustained less damage (parts of the Ward were totally obliterated), due to its perch on the banks of the Mississippi rather than sunk below sea level. The selection was far from random:

Holy Cross was selected by specialists from Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in February 2006 as pilot project to demonstrate not only what could be done to restore or rebuild damaged neighborhoods elsewhere, but how it could be done. (from the complete report)

In addition to serving as an example for the rest of the Ninth Ward and other New Orleans neighborhoods still in dire need of restoration, there’s a chance that sustainable choices here could impact the greater building community. Over two years later, there is still a staggering amount of construction to be done. If new processes are implemented, alternative materials used, it could still be a goad to the industry to switch gears.

Green homes are healthier for the environment, but they’re healthier for people, too; coupled with the debacle of FEMA’s emergency housing, the stage is set for a serious change. The move for a sustainable reconstruction of Holy Cross is partially sponsored by government agencies, but it isn’t a government initiative; state, local, and non-profit environmental groups are behind this, and it’s gathering grassroots steam in a great example of what can happen when community initiatives are planned with and for, rather than separate from, the community itself. What happened to New Orleans was a tragedy. The least we can do is learn from it.