NEW ORLEANS, July 11, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- HomeAid, the country's leading non-profit developer of transitional housing, has joined forces with Tulane University's School of Architecture to initiate the first post-Katrina sustainable building project in the City of New Orleans, where much attention is being placed on the opportunity to rebuild better, smarter and more efficiently for the future. The project, a 4,400 square foot, two-story Family Center that will house families displaced by the hurricane, breaks ground today and is being privately funded through a $3 million partnership between HomeAid and Ameriquest Mortgage Company and its affiliates Argent Mortgage Company and AMC Mortgage Services. The Family Center will be built on the site of the historic New Orleans Rescue Mission, located one quarter mile southeast of the Louisiana Superdome at 1130 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard. New Orleans-based JaRoy Construction, Inc. will build the project, while Perez APC is serving as the project's architectural director, working in conjunction with Tulane University.
"In a historic city like New Orleans, where the majority of construction is decades or even centuries old, there is an opportunity to rebuild many of the city's structures in a sustainable, efficient and environmentally friendly way that is unprecedented in this country," said Stephen Verderber, professor of architecture at Tulane University. "The Family Center Project brings together the expertise of the City's architectural, building, education and non-profit communities to set a standard for re-building in New Orleans. This immense opportunity is truly the silver lining in an otherwise devastating situation."
The Family Center was designed in the spring of 2005 by students in a Tulane University School of Architecture Design/Build Class, taught by Professor Verderber. The class of both graduate and undergraduate students was divided into teams and each team created a design-build project for the New Orleans Rescue Mission, where the winning team's design would actually be built.
"When Katrina hit, it seemingly destroyed all hope of this project getting built, given the lack of labor and available resources, as well as the extent of the devastation throughout the City," said Breeze Glazer, a recent graduate of Tulane University's School of Architecture involved with the project. "When HomeAid stepped in to build the project to house evacuees, we were thrilled. This build has the potential to set a new benchmark for sustainable building in the Gulf Coast region."
Along with Tulane University, HomeAid will register the Family Center project with the U.S. Green Council's LEEDS program (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Among the sustainable materials to be used in the home include bamboo flooring on the 1st floor; cork flooring on the second floor; "EcoSurfaces" in the children's playroom and garden which is an innovative material made of recycled tires and other post-consumer waste plastics; "3-Form" which is an Eco-resin composite that enables a closed-loop recycling process, can be broken down and used again an infinite amount of times; and HardiPlank exterior siding, a recycled wood fiber and cement-based composite that is impervious to water and insects. In addition, antique New Orleans reclaimed bricks will be used for all exterior paving, including those found on site to reuse. The center also will incorporate Georgia-Pacific's DensArmor Plus(tm) from G-P Gypsum, a new generation paperless drywall designed as a replacement for traditional paper-faced drywall for residential interiors. DensArmor Plus drywall is designed to resist moisture and mold.
The home will be equipped with efficient energy systems including a GeoThermal HVAC system; tankless water heaters that are much more energy efficient than typical tank heaters; strategic glazing on the building to minimize sun exposure and reduce internal heat loads and energy requirements; and stack ventilation in each second-floor bedroom that includes a sloping, high ceiling that enables hot air to rise and escape through operable windows. Even the garden will be eco-friendly: the project consists of a large landscaped yard that utilizes many different plants, including several native to Louisiana, and large amounts of bamboo, a rapidly growing grass that is extremely renewable.
"As a national developer of transitional housing, HomeAid is in a unique position to respond to the housing crisis caused by Hurricane Katrina. To be able to help make this tremendous project a reality in New Orleans is incredible," said Genette Eaton, chief executive officer of HomeAid. "We feel honored to work with Tulane University to build this highly significant project in New Orleans and are thankful to our corporate partners, especially Ameriquest Mortgage Company and its affiliates Argent and AMC Mortgage Services, for their generosity in funding this and our other Gulf Coast housing projects."
In addition to Ameriquest and its family of companies, other corporate partners in the Gulf Coast Rebuilding Fund include Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Pella Corporation, James Hardie, CALPASC, Shea Homes, Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., MBK Homes, Taylor Woodrow Homes, Crestwood Communities, Suncoast Post-Tension, Goodman Manufacturing, David Weekley Homes, Tilson Home Corporation, Doyle Stuckey Homes, Green Mountain Building Co., Bassenian/Lagoni Architects, Masco Corporate Foundation and Owens Corning Foundation, Favrot and Shane Companies, Inc., D. Kanter Engineering, and Schrenk & Peterson Consulting Engineers, Inc.
For more information or to make a donation to HomeAid's "Gulf Coast Rebuilding Fund," visit www.homeaid.org. Contributions can also be sent to HomeAid Gulf Coast Rebuilding Fund, 3919 Westerly Place, Suite 200, Newport Beach, CA 92660.
About HomeAid
HomeAid is the nation's largest nonprofit builder of housing for the temporarily homeless. Founded in 1989, the organization has built housing for more than 60,000 men, women and children. Established by the Building Industry Association of Southern California, an affiliate of the National Association of Home Builders, HomeAid has completed 119 housing projects nationwide with another 58 projects currently in development. HomeAid includes a network of 17 chapters in 11 states and three offices in Washington, D.C.; Newport Beach, CA; and New Orleans, LA (for hurricane-rebuilding efforts). For more information about HomeAid, call 949-258-0850 or visit www.homeaid.org.
The HomeAid logo is available at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2388
About Tulane University School of Architecture
Professional courses in architecture have been offered at Tulane for over a century. The school's graduates during this period have risen to positions of stature locally, regionally, and nationally within the architectural profession, and in the various allied design professions. Many of the school's faculty and its graduates have achieved stature in the arena of civic engagement in New Orleans and beyond. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the School has redoubled its activities in urban design in the rebuilding of the devastated city.
About ACC Capital Holdings and its Affiliate Companies
ACC Capital Holdings (ACH) is a national financial services company based in Orange, CA. The ACH family of companies originate, service and securitize a range of mortgage products. With operations nationwide, the ACH companies and their associates share a common mission of helping Americans reach their financial goals and achieve their home ownership dreams. The companies also demonstrate their commitment to communities through a wide array of partnerships, outreach programs and community investments. ACH subsidiaries include Ameriquest Mortgage Company (retail mortgage loan origination), Argent Mortgage Company (wholesale mortgage loan origination) and AMC Mortgage Services (loan servicing and capital markets). For more information about Ameriquest Mortgage Company, Argent Mortgage, and AMC Mortgage Services, please visit: www.ameriquest.com, www.argentmortgage.com, or www.amcmortgageservices.com.