Rebuilding New Orleans
Statement in Response to President’ Obama’s Remarks From Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Global Green USA
“Indeed New Orleans is blossoming again, thanks to so many amazing social entrepreneurial leaders across the the great city. The job has not been easy. Much like President Francis as he pledged to reopen Xavier University within months after Hurricane Katrina, many people thought I was crazy to think we could help rebuild New Orleans to be a green city in the years after the storm,” said Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Global Green USA. “Remarkably, we have made significant progress on all fronts we pledged to accomplish:
GLOBAL GREEN USA CALLS ON PRESIDENT OBAMA TO CREATE INDEPENDENT GULF COAST CLEAN ENERGY FOUNDATION TO HELP REGION RECOVER FROM BP OIL SPILL AND LEAD NATION TOWARD CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE
New Orleans, LA – August 26, 2010 – Global Green President Matt Petersen called on President Obama to demand that BP fund the creation of a $2.5 billion “Gulf Coast Clean Energy and Healthy Communities Foundation” – helping transform the Gulf Coast into the green coast – as he marked the completion of the first phase of Global Green’s sustainable Holy Cross Project, a response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Global Green is the only environmental group building affordable housing in the United States.
Statement on the opening of L.B. Landry High School
Beth Galante, Director of Global Green's New Orleans office
"We're thrilled at Global Green that L.B. Landry, our second "Model Green School," has come to fruition. We've worked hard with the architects, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, and the Recovery School District to make sure this brand new building, housing a historically significant school, is energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and a healthy learning environment for the 900+ students, faculty and staff who will populate it this month. Global Green pushed for some of the school's most notable green features such as solar water heating; rain water harvesting, cistern, and retention pond; and native landscaping. Landry is also "PV ready" meaning that all the wiring has been run and the roof prepared for solar electric panels that can help provide energy for the school."
ACTRESS RHONA MITRA JOINS GLOBAL GREEN TO WITNESS IMPACTS OF GULF OIL SPILL & CLEANUP; CALLS FOR CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS
Rescues Oil Soaked Bird at Myrtle Grove Marina; Meets with Plaquemines Parrish President Billy Nungesser to discuss Green Future
July 12, 2010 – Myrtle Grove Marina, LA – Yesterday, actress Rhona Mitra, star of “The Gates,” joined national environmental group Global Green USA to see the impacts of the BP spill for herself. Mitra met with Plaquemines Parrish President Billy Nungesser and discussed the opportunities for embracing a clean energy future for the region before getting on a boat to witness the oil soaked coastline and ongoing cleanup efforts.
NEW ORLEANS AND INDIANAPOLIS GREEN GROUPS JOIN THE SUPER BOWL WAGER MANIA
Green living invitations offered in each City
Global Green Asks Watchers to help New Orleans win More Than a Game by Donating $10 to the Green Rebuilding by Texting --at the end of the 1st Quarter -- GREENDAT to 85944
New Orleans, Indianapolis - February 2, 2010 - Global Green USA - founded by Indianapolis native Diane Meyer Simon - who has helped lead the way in the green rebuilding of New Orleans, and the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC) of Indianapolis have expanded the challenges between the two cities to include a “green” wager.
Global Green celebrates the completion and opening of its first New Orleans model green school
Statement by Beth Galante, Director, Global Green USA New Orleans
January 29, 2010 - New Orleans, LA - Global Green USA is proud to announce the results of our three year partnership with the Recovery School District (RSD) and the Broadmoor Improvement Association (BIA) to develop the green design of the Andrew H. Wilson Elementary School -- making it one of the greenest schools in the nation that will have dramatically lower utility costs and substantially improve student health and performance.
EPA ADMINISTRATOR VISITS GLOBAL GREEN’S LEED PLATINUM HOMES IN 9TH WARD
New Orleans, La - November 17th, 2009 - Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Administration today visited Global Green’s Holy Cross Project in the Lower Ninth Ward.
“We are so pleased that Ms. Jackson had the opportunity to visit our sustainable development and Visitor Center and see firsthand the affordable green community that we’re building, said Global Green President Matt Petersen. “More than 8,000 people have already visited our Holy Cross project and we are so pleased to welcome Ms. Jackson with some of the community leaders who have partnered with us every step of the way."
President Obama Tours Global Green USA Green Seed School in Lower 9th Ward
Green Renovation Saves $23,000 Annually, Improves Kids Health, Creates Green Jobs
Green Rebuilding of New Orleans Needs to be Accelerated to Create Sustainable Economy and Fight Climate Change
October 15th, New Orleans – President Obama today visited one of the schools that Global Green USA targeted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to rebuild green. Thanks to the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, Global Green provided a $70,000 grant and free technical expertise to the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School, which is helping to save approximately $23,000 a year in energy expenses that can now be spent on education. Global Green is investing more than $2 million to help rebuild green schools in New Orleans and has worked with the Recovery School District to insure that all new schools are built to a LEED certified green standard.
GLOBAL GREEN USA TO SERVE AS GREEN ADVISOR FOR GEHRY-TANNEN MODGUN
New Orleans, LA – June 17, 2009 - Global Green is excited to continue and expand our role as technical expert, advocate, and catalyst in advancing energy efficient, healthy housing in New Orleans. As the "green advisor" for the Gehry-Tannen Modgun design unveiled today in New Orleans, Global Green has found a new way to advance our Build it Back Green initiative to create energy efficient, healthy homes. While our primary focus is to help homeowners as they rebuild existing homes, this design - along with our Holy Cross Project - helps further our goal to green 10,000 of the homes to be rebuilt by New Orleans' families.
AFFORDABLE, MODULAR HOUSING FOR NEW ORLEANS IS TARGET OF LOCAL PLANNNING AND DEVELOPMENT TEAM AND WORLD RENOWNED ARCHITECT
New Orleans, La - June 17, 2009 - Local artist and urban planner Robert Tannen of Creative Industry has collaborated with world renowned architect Frank Gehry and green building advocacy group Global Green USA to create a house design that is affordable, sustainable, and compatible with most neighborhoods in New Orleans, including historic districts.
Solar installation on Global Green’s Holy Cross Project Homes in Lower 9th Ward demonstrates expansion of green workforce
New Orleans, LA. – On Wednesday, May 27, Global Green USA was joined by New Orleans’ citizens and green energy leaders at a special event highlighting the progress of the Holy Cross Project as two solar panel systems were installed on the 2nd and 3rd of 5 planned single-family houses under construction at the site. The installations were performed by local renewable energy installer, South Coast Solar, and students of a solar installation training course presented by Louisiana CleanTech Network, a local organization providing green jobs training programs at college campuses throughout the state.
Global Green USA kicks off “Go Green Week” at Gentilly Terrace Elementary with announcement of school as a Green Seed School
April 16, 2009 – New Orleans – Gentilly Terrace Elementary School, a pre-K through 8th grade school that sustained significant flood damage after the storm and has been re-opened since fall of 2007, will hold a school wide assembly on Thursday, April 16 at 10 a.m. to announce their partnership with Global Green USA which is granting $75,000 to make Gentilly Terrace the fourth Green Seed School in New Orleans.
Global Green USA presents Latest Progress of the Holy Cross Project: The Lower 9th Ward's Green Village is Growing
March 4, 2009 – New Orleans, LA – Global Green USA welcomed members of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and local leaders in the Lower 9th ward today to tour the progress of the Holy Cross Project, made possible with lead funding partner The Home Depot Foundation. The project is an entirely sustainable green village being built in the neighborhood.
SCHOOL OFFICIALS, ALGIERS COMMUNITY CELEBRATE GROUNDBREAKING AT L.B. LANDRY
New Orleans, LA - Nov 14, 2008 - A new chapter in the history of L.B. Landry High School was written today as school officials and local leaders, joined by alumni and supporters, broke ground on a new, $54 million high school in Algiers. The event was the fourth school groundbreaking in six months under the Quick Start school initiative, designed to jump start public school construction in New Orleans.
Emergency Response Studio (ERS) exhibited at Global Green's Holy Cross Project
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.
GLOBAL GREEN USA LAUNCHES BUILD IT BACK 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” (www.globalgreen.org/bibg) 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.
ONE TOUGH GREEN HOUSE
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.
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.
FIRST HOLY CROSS GREEN HOME COMPLETED
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
GLOBAL GREEN USA UNVEILS GREEN SCHOOLS INITIATIVE IN NEW ORLEANS
New Orleans, LA - 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.
GLOBAL GREEN USA & BRAD PITT ANNOUNCE WINNER OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN COMPETITION FOR NEW ORLEANS; WINNING DESIGN REDUCES ENERGY USE BY 63%; SOLAR, GEOTHERMAL HELP LOWER ENERGY COSTS TO RESIDENT S CLOSE TO ZERO
NEW ORLEANS, LA, September 7, 2006 - Global Green USA President Matt Petersen and design jury chairman Brad Pitt announced the winner, Workshop/APD (Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchens) of the Sustainable Design Competition for New Orleans at a press event last week at historic Gallier Hall in New Orleans.
GLOBAL GREEN USA AND BRAD PITT ANNOUNCE SUSTAINABLE DESIGN COMPETITION FINALISTS ON TODAY SHOW AND MSNBC.COM; PUBLIC CAN VIEW AND VOTE ON FINALIST DESIGNS AT WWW.GLOBALGREEN.ORG
NEW ORLEANS, LA AND SANTA MONICA, CA - July 17, 2006 – Global Green USA and Brad Pitt announced today 6 finalists for the Sustainable Design Competition for New Orleans. Each finalist responded to the competition goals of demonstrating how green building and intelligent architecture can be brought together in an innovative way while respecting the historical context of New Orleans neighborhoods.
GLOBAL GREEN USA AND BRAD PITT LAUNCH SUSTAINABLE DESIGN COMPETITION FOR NEW ORLEANS
NEW ORLEANS , LA - July 14, 2006 – Surrounded by green building displays, Global Green USA President Matt Petersen was joined by design jury chairman Brad Pitt, Pritzker Award winner Thom Mayne and the rest of the jury made up of nationally renowned architects and environmental experts as they launched their Sustainable Design Competition for New Orleans. The event also included the competition jury, made up of nationally renowned architects and environmental experts, and marked the conclusion of four days of deliberations to review more than one hundred green building design submissions from across the country and around the world.
