WASHINGTON -- (BUSINESS WIRE) – August 25, 2010 – Five years after the devastating hurricanes that ravaged New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast, many organizations have stepped in to help rebuild the city, placing emphasis on resilience, sustainability and economic prosperity. The U.S. Green Building Council, the driving force of the green building industry in America, has also made rebuilding New Orleans green a key priority. Through USGBC’s LEED green building certification program, hundreds of homes, schools and commercial buildings are being rebuilt to be high-performance, resource-efficient, durable and healthier places for the people of New Orleans who occupy them. Below is a report of USGBC’s efforts since 2005.

USGBC’s Notable Accomplishments:

• USGBC embedded an expert in the Recovery School District to work with all schools on rebuilding green.
• All public schools built to minimum LEED Silver Certification.
• Green movie studio in the Lower Garden District will be LEED Silver.
• Make It Right has built the largest community of LEED Platinum homes in the world.
• Salvation Army’s EnviRenew is building and repairing 250 homes in five New Orleans neighborhoods to be green and energy efficient.
• USGBC and EnviRenew’s Natural Talent Design Competition will build four LEED Platinum homes in the Broadmoor neighborhood.
• Preservation Resource Center (PRC) and the Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development (CSED) will be opening a new LEED Platinum community center/headquarters in the Holy Cross neighborhood of the Lower Ninth Ward.
• Working with USGBC, several groups in the city are training workers to rebuild the city better and greener: LA Greencorps, Good Work Network, Electrician’s Union, Delgado Community College, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice

Since the devastating hurricanes and subsequent floods that ravaged New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region in 2005, USGBC has been on the ground there, developing strategies for rebuilding even as the flood waters began receding. At its 2005 Greenbuild Conference in Atlanta, just weeks after the hurricanes came through, USGBC convened 160 participants, including many New Orleans residents, USGBC chapter members and other leading experts in planning, environmental engineering and architecture, in a planning charrette.