ZeroEnergy Design and FreeGreen are regional winners of USGBC Design Competition

Aug. 24, 2010 - PRLog -- BOSTON, MA –  ZeroEnergy Design and co-entrant FreeGreen are regional winners in the U.S. Green Building Council's Natural Talent Design Competition. The Salvation Army’s EnviRenew Initiative joined the USGBC this year in hosting the Competition in which entrants designed a green, affordable, 800 square foot home for an elderly client in the Broadmoor, New Orleans neighborhood.

Participants competed in chapter-based competitions, and the top winner in each chapter advances to compete for a national award at USGBC’s annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo.

“The competition for us was about the impact of good design on quality of life – and who better to benefit than the homeowners of New Orleans. This was a chance to design high quality, small, affordable green homes which will make a substantial difference in people’s lives,” said Jordan Goldman of ZeroEnergy Design.

Through its EnviRenew initiative, The Salvation Army is kicking off a large-scale residential green building campaign in five neighborhoods in New Orleans, facilitating the construction of 125 new homes and the renovation of 125 existing homes over the next three years.

“This competition posed several design challenges: low energy use, low construction cost, and something that would fit into both the architectural and cultural context of the Broadmoor neighborhood. Our unique design team was able to tackle this from multiple disciplines,” said Ben Uyeda of FreeGreen.

Four designs will be selected from the regional finalists and  showcased at Greenbuild 2010; these national winners will see their projects built in New Orleans’ Broadmoor neighborhood.  The design team whose home performs best when measured in categories such as energy efficiency, water reuse, and indoor air quality, will be awarded the final grand prize in 2011.

About ZeroEnergy Design
ZeroEnergy Design creates innovative and environmentally sensible homes. Our multidisciplinary team of architecture, engineering and finance professionals takes a calculated, three-pronged approach to green design and sustainability. This results in high performance homes that holistically appeal to our clients’ lifestyles, aesthetic preferences, and environmental ideologies.
http://www.ZeroEnergy.com

About FreeGreen
FreeGreen.com, based in Charlestown, Massachusetts has quickly become the leading provider of green home design distributing over 40,000 house plans per year. FreeGreen operates under a unique "freemium" model in which they offer both advertising sponsored free house plans, and various levels premium memberships and other services which allow users to gain access to FreeGreen's full house plan library. All FreeGreen homes are designed to be 30% to 50% more efficient than typical building codes.
http://www.FreeGreen.com

Contact:
Emile Chin-Dickey
617-720-5002 *101
ZeroEnergy Design