Finance New Orleans targets greener homes with Innovation Challenge
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Most people who are looking for financing to buy a new home aren’t thinking about anything green, except cash.
Still, according to one city agency, it’s time for future homeowners to think about it.
“What has inspired us to talk about green finance is our experience during Katrina. Almost immediately after Katrina, our balance sheet declined by 95%. That is almost $400 million of public wealth that was lost to Katrina. One of the reasons it was lost was because we didn’t have sustainable housing and infrastructure or sustainable enough to withstand an event like Katrina,” Finance New Orleans CEO Damon Burns.
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Damon Burns is the CEO of Finance New Orleans, an agency created by the city in 1978 to finance affordable housing needs. Changes in the climate have forced the agency to think more about what the future of New Orleans looks like.
“We decided that sustainability has to be our main focus, whether we’re building housing or the infrastructure around the housing,” said Burns.
The 32 units of Grove Place in Hollygrove is one such development that was designed with a greener footprint and financed by Finance New Orleans.
“This is a green enterprise green community development, which means it’s at the highest standard in the affordable industry for things like Energy Star appliances in all the units, energy audits throughout the building process to ensure that the envelope is tight, that we’re not having air escape and tenants conditioning the outside, fixtures with reduced or restricted flow rates, for the water so that water usage is kept at a minimum,” said Grove Place Developer Paul Irons.
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To further educate residents about green initiatives, Finance New Orleans is hosting the Resilient New Orleans Innovation Challenge on Tuesday at the Jazz Market, where climate technology companies will show their wares for a chance to be selected to participate in a pilot homebuilding project.
“To work with the community, at the same time to identify what green means? What are the technologies that are out there that are inside and outside of New Orleans that can help us physically transform?” said Burns.
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