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Brad Pitt’s Latest in Louisiana Makes It Right with Solar

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Here’s the latest 9th ward home from Brad Pitt’s Make it Right rebuilding program in New Orleans. This one is from architect Frank Gehry.

I love that the two solar arrays on this sweet house are big enough to zero out the energy usage in most homes.

The cleverness of this design is that not only are the panels zeroing out the electricity bill, but they also help cool the home, reducing air conditioning needs in sultry Louisiana, by slicing cool breezes under the “raised roof” of solar panels above the rooftop deck.

And the roof, shaded and cooled by four-way breezes, is now a cool place to escape the heat, in traditional porch style.

Another energy bill reducer: 80% more efficient Noritz tankless waterheaters heat water instantly, cutting water heating costs by about 50 percent.

Colored in the traditional familiar pastel shades of New Orleans, the Make it Right program is developing an affordable and sustainable community within the lower 9th ward neighborhood most devastated from Hurricane Katrina.

The new energy-conscious neighborhood design will leave a lasting legacy for Pitt, long after his movie-making fame is past.

“I really believe in what Brad is doing for the community and was honored to be included,” said Frank Gehry. “I wanted to make a house that I would like to live in and one that responded to the history, vernacular and climate of New Orleans. I love the colors that the homeowner chose. I could not have done it better.”

The new Make it Right house next door has a decent-sized solar array, too, that, depending on power of the panel chosen, is probably about a 3 kilowatt system. In all, 21 architects have contributed designs to this wonderful program.

Louisiana has had a terrific 50% rebate program for going solar, so that together with the federal 30%, the state is by far the cost-effective nationally for permanently eliminating ongoing energy costs.