USGBC selects ZeroEnergy Design & FreeGreen as National Finalists in New Orleans design competition

Sept. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- BOSTON, MA –  ZeroEnergy Design and FreeGreen are pleased to announce their joint selection as National Finalists in the U.S. Green Building Council's 2010 Natural Talent Design Competition . As a National Finalist, their green, LEED Platinum home, designed for the post-Hurricane Katrina rebuilding effort, will be built in the Broadmoor neighborhood of New Orleans.

The USGBC, in collaboration with the Salvation Army’s EnviRenew, challenged contestants to design an 800-square-foot LEED Platinum home that embraced the New Orleans Broadmoor neighborhood, functioned well for elderly occupants, and minimized construction and operating costs. ZeroEnergy Design and FreeGreen collaborated on the architecture and specifications for “Little Easy”, which was selected by a panel of prestigious judges as one of four national finalists. .

“The comprehensive, holistic nature of the competition requirements was a great match for our multidisciplinary team. The consideration of construction cost, usability, and energy performance in addition to design is something we address on a day-to-day basis,” said Stephanie Horowitz AIA CPHC of ZeroEnergy Design.

Each national finalist’s home design will be built in New Orleans and then monitored during a measurement and verification phase in which each will be evaluated on energy efficiency, water reuse and indoor air quality among other categories. The design team whose home performs best during measurement and verification will be awarded the final grand prize at Greenbuild 2011 International Conference & Expo.

“"We enjoyed the opportunity to focus on developing simple, affordable solutions for a clearly defined demographic profile. Over the last few years we have seen a number of provocative and hypothetical design proposals for rebuilding New Orleans that demonstrate amazing creative abilities but expose the design community’s willingness and tendency to prioritize formal newness over basic practicality and affordability. We challenged ourselves not to design what is new or cool but simply what is needed, what will perform well environmentally, and what will save money,” said Ben Uyeda of FreeGreen.


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
On Twitter @thinkzeroenergy

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 then typical building codes.
http://www.FreeGreen.com
On Twitter @FreeGreen

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