A view of LaHouse taken in April 2006. (Photo by Mark Claesgens)

An aerial view of LaHouse taken in April 2006. (Photo by Mark Claesgens)

Members of the LSU Board of Supervisors visited LaHouse in July 2006. Left to right are Ben Mount, Bill Richardson, Charlie Weems, Jerry Shea and Claudette Reichel. Richardson is the chancellor of the AgCenter, and Reichel is director of LaHouse. (Photo by Linda Foster Benedict)

It’s designed to stand up to hurricane-force winds, swarming insects and harmful humidity. It’s not an underground shelter but a family-type home designed to showcase innovations in home construction for Louisiana’s sub-tropical climate.

The LSU AgCenter’s Louisiana House – Home and Landscape Resource Center provides a model for the public to learn about technological advances in housing. Better known as LaHouse, the center is located on a 7-acre site near the LSU Golf Course off the Nicholson Drive- Gourrier Ave.-Burbank Ave. intersection. Because of its location, the house has an architectural style that mirrors other campus buildings according to the LSU Master Plan. The goal of LaHouse is to educate homeowners, home builders and architects in the methods that can be used to make homes more user- and resource-friendly.

LaHouse is an outgrowth of a statewide educational outreach program of the LSU AgCenter and its numerous partners yet is rapidly expanding its reach throughout the Gulf Coast region. Since shortly after hurricanes Katrina and Rita brought our region such devastation, the LaHouse program has been educating homeowners, home builders, designers and others about a range of locally appropriate ways to make homes more storm-resistant, energy-efficient and user-friendly.

Sustainable Housing

A focal point of the project is examining the issue of sustainability, which means meeting current needs without jeopardizing future generations. Sustainable housing and development must integrate and balance resource efficiency, durability and health with practicality and convenience to become integrated into home construction. To homeowners, sustainability must be affordable, aesthetically appealing and meet their needs and desires. To builders and architects, it means do-able, practical and marketable.

LaHouse exhibits four different high-performance building systems – all fortified for high wind resistance, four alternative foundation systems for flood zones, three different high-efficiency heating and air conditioning systems with ventilation and dehumidification for optimal air quality, and a wide variety of products and features that offer special benefits – all in one house.

This characteristic was and still is a challenge for the project team, including the architect and contractor of LaHouse. The design firm for the project is Remson-Haley-Herpin Architects, and the general contractor is Wooden Creations.

Environmental Challenges

Elements of LaHouse are specifically designed to meet the environmental challenges to homes along the Gulf Coast. For hurricane protection, metal connectors, structural sheathing with blocking, special nails and spacing, and water barriers were used throughout the house and teaching center, which is in the garage. In addition, storm-safe rooms are exhibited – one commercial and built to FEMA storm shelter standards and a low-cost reinforcement of a walk-in closet for moderate impact resistance.

For protection from Formosan termites, three primary strategies are being implemented in LaHouse – a wire-mesh barrier system, chemically treated wood and a soil treatment underneath the concrete slab. The barrier system, called Termi-Mesh, is anchored along the perimeter of the foundation and clamped to plumbing pipes. The mesh is durable, and the openings are too small for termites to enter. The system works on the same principle as window screens.

LaHouse Lagniappe

• Landscaping at LaHouse will feature plants adapted to drought conditions to conserve water resources.
• The home will feature three heating, cooling, ventilation and dehumidification systems for comfort, efficiency and indoor air quality.
• Advanced, energy-efficient appliances, lighting controls and structured wiring will be used throughout the home.
• Three elevated foundation systems for flood zones, dry flood-proofing and wet flood-proofing will be demonstrated.
• LaHouse partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America program, FEMA, Institute of Business and Home Safety, Building Media Inc. and private industry sponsors to bring nationally prominent building scientists to six south Louisiana cities to conduct best building practice training for nearly 1,000 building professionals in the spring of 2006.
• LaHouse has already been featured in local and national media, including Coastal Contractor trade journal, Home Energy magazine, Automated Builder magazine, Builder-Architect and the Times Picayune of New Orleans.

Visit the LaHouse web site on LSUAgCenter.com