Small Green Affordable

Last year I participated in the USGBC Natural Leaders Competition. The program was to design an environmentally friendly home for a low-income family that met Habitat for Humanity's guidelines. Even though our design didn't win the competition, I really enjoyed the process and I learned a lot along the way. So when I heard about this year's competition I wanted to try again. 

This year USGBC has teamed up with the Salvation Army's Envirenew Initiative. The program is to design a LEED Platinum home for an elderly couple in New Orleans' Broadmoor neighborhood. After seeing the devastation from Hurricane Katrina first hand, I know there's still a lot of rebuilding to be done, not only in New Orleans, but across the entire region. 

I've joined up with a highly talented group of former UCONN classmates to enter this year's competition. Even though we all live quite a distance from each other, we are able to use the wonders of modern technology to come together for productive design team meetings. Now, I don't believe this would work with just any design team. This works because we have 3 solid years of working with each other nearly 24/7. We know each other literally inside and out. 

I look forward to this newest adventure in design!