Two years after the hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, Louisiana, Brad Pitt toured the area and noticed most of the 4000 homes that were destroyed were not fixed, and the area abandoned. He promised the families he met there that he would "Make It Right." Like many, Pitt was let down by the lack of governmental help in the wake of the disaster. After meeting with local community groups and families Pitt established the "Make It Right Foundation," a non-profit organization set to build 150 green, affordable, high-quality homes that were closest to the levee breach, the lower 9th ward.
Bill Clinton and Brad Pitt at the ground breaking in 2008
Make It Right broke ground in 2008, and since then have completed 70 homes. 21 local, national, and international architects designed the new homes, and donated the plans to the project. The designs have many green attributes. The homes feature a 2.7 to 3.0 kilowatt solar PV system, low-VOC paints, carpets, and other finishes, and recycled materials are used throughout. Metal roofs are used to reduce heat gain, it is hot down there, and capture rain water. Some feature green roofs. All internal materials are certified by Forest Stewardship. The homes have tankless waterheaters, Energy Star Rated appliances and light fixtures. The windows and doors have "low-e" coatings, to help reduce heat flow into the home.
2 of the finished homes. They look amazing.
Other interesting features include kevlar reinforced windows, advanced framing and engineered wall sections, all to withstand up to 130mph hurricane winds. And all the homes are built 6 to 8 feet off the ground to help in case of another flood.
Brad Pitt and Microsoft's Bing have pledged, together, $10 million dollars in matching funds for the project. For more information and links to donate, go to the Make It Right webpage.
I just found out about this program, and I am definitely going to donate.
Eavesdropper