Sustainable Strategizing For Gulf Coast Rebuilding Efforts

Panel discussions will produce a document to guide the reconstruction efforts.

Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 10/26/2005

Several organizations will team up during this year’s Greenbuild Conference and Expo, in Atlanta November 9-11, to assist in the rebuilding efforts of the Gulf Coast communities ravaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Enterprise Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, the Trust for Public Land, and others will lead charrettes focusing on green initiatives for the massive reconstruction project.

At the conference, which is sponsored by the USGBC, discussion will take place with Gulf Coast experts, regional experts, and government leaders on specific topics. Funding has also been arranged to include Gulf Coast community leaders in the proceedings.

More than 10,000 industry professionals are expected to attend the annual conference, many who have expressed an interest in assisting in the aftermath of the hurricane.

One such professional tapped to participate is Bill Browning, a partner in the Washington, DC-based firm Browning + Banning, and founder of Rocky Mountain Institute's Green Development Services. Browning has experience in disaster recovery work, which he gained during the massive flooding in the 1990's of the Mississippi flood plains and from working with relief agencies on sustainable design for refugee settlements.

"This is about collaboration, partnership, and leadership," says Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and Founding Chair of the USGBC. “The rebuilding effort will be a Herculean task, and the USGBC is committed to providing our specific expertise to helping the citizens of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas re-set their roots and restore their communities as viable, vital, healthy and productive places, as quickly as possible and in a way that support them in the long term."

The panel sessions will culminate in a documentation work session on Friday, November 11, that will compile all the ideas generated in order to quickly produce a workable document to guide the reconstruction efforts.