Innovations & Education

LaHouse Resource Center is now a new Gulf Region Healthy Homes Training Center partner of the National Healthy Homes Training Center and Network. Lessons taught at the Center promote practical and cost-effective methods for making homes healthier.

The Rebuilding Information Station is an outreach center at the New Orleans Lakefront that is set up to assist homeowners in managing the rebuilding of their hurricane damaged homes through information, education and outreach. Partners in the Station are the LSU AgCenter, University of New Orleans Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology, Tulane City Center and The Road Home program.

A series of mini-seminars has been scheduled for September at the Rebuilding Information Station (RIS) in New Orleans.

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Global Green USA made a dedicated commitment to sustainable building in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. As part of that commitment, Global Green, in partnership with Brad Pitt, sponsored an international design competition during the summer of 2006. The result is a zero energy affordable housing development in the Holy Cross Neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward.

This "Hurricane Edition" is a guide to flood, wind and water resistance features you can see at the Louisiana House Home and Landscape Resource Center (LaHouse). It was developed during the summer of 2007 for use in mid-construction open houses. Pages will be updated when features become less visible as the house is completed.

LaHouse is committed to be a key resource for contractors, designers, code officials and homeowners in shaping the future with sustainable, high performance homes. We will continue to build upon this Online Training Center to assist the gulf region.

Homeowners will get information on how to rebuild their homes to better stand up to hurricanes at a series of mini-seminars scheduled for the Rebuilding Information Station in August.

As many Louisiana residents struggle to rebuild their homes and their lives in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, homeowners, builders and code officials need help building safer, stronger homes that will resist hurricane damage. They also need help understanding and implementing the newly adopted residential building code. The Capital Region Builders Association (CRBA) has been at the forefront of educational efforts, offering a series of code workshops and model homes.

As we track the progress of reconstruction in hurricane recovery and as new products, systems and technoglogies come into the state, we will add to this section. Learn about current educational efforts that may be useful as you build, rebuild or restore your home - and tell us about innovations and educational opportunities we haven't heard about.

The Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code Council has developed a Web site filled with valuable information concerning the Louisiana Uniform Construction Code.

The LSU AgCenter offers hurricane-resistant home improvement seminars for people who wish to build or restore their homes to make them more resistant to storm and flood damage. This video gives a brief description of material covered in the full 2-hour package. Long and short seminars and trainings can be scheduled on these topics to meet the needs of your group. Call the LSU AgCenter at (225) 578-6087 or the Rebuilding Information Station in New Orleans at (504) 280-5577 for more information.

The LSU AgCenter offers Hurricane-Resistant Home Improvement seminars across South Louisiana. Find out here how to schedule a presentation for your group.

LaHouse showcases four types of construction: Standard 2 x 4 Framing, Advanced 2 x 6 Framing, Structural Insulated Panel Systems (SIPS) and Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF).

LaHouse has several features for flood and wind and water resistance that are not captured in the building component descriptions. These include a Safe Room, Dry Floodproofing, anchoring of the flat roof of the breezeway, porct protection and closets, ground sloping away from the foundation, back-flow protection and elevated utility systems.

Windows and doors at LaHouse are selected and sized to meet the cojde-specified design pressure rating for a 130 mph wind zone. Where windows and doors are not impact rated units, they are protected by shutter, panels or screens. Windows and doors are flashed so water drains to the outside, not into the wall cavity.

Walls at LaHouse are wind and water resistant. Sheathing and hardware contribute to shear, lateral and uplift resistance. Layering and taping of housewraps and flashings provide resistance to water and moisture penetration. Drainage planes exclude water that penerates exterior finishes.

The roofs at LaHouse are predominantly hip-style for greatest wind resistance. Both metal and simulated clay tile are demonstrated with high-wind installation.

LaHouse has a flood protection level 3 feet above Base Flood Elevation, using three elevated foundations on the house and dry-floodproofingon the non-residential building (garage/classroom). Wind and moisture protection are also addressed.

LaHouse is a showcase for best practices and code-plus construction. Its flood and wind resistance features meet or exceed the criteria of the "Fortified...for Safer Living" program of the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). Many of the water-resistance techniques are best construction practices; some are required by code.

Capital Region Builders Association featured this Model Home on in Prarieville, in the 2007 Parade of Homes. This home is designed and built to meet code requirements for 120 mph wind speeds and the energy efficiency requirements of the International Residential Code.

The LSU AgCenter, in conjunction with the University of New Orleans’ Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology (UNO_CHART), Tulane City Center and Louisiana Office of Community Development’s Road Home program, is hosting an open house for the Rebuilding Information Station (RIS) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 26.

Come out and bring your family and friends to hear and see the featured speakers and exhibitors, including: bankers, credit unions, United Way, insurance experts, mortgage companies, Fannie Mae, Finance Authority of New Orleans, city officials, Road Home Advisors & FEMA Mitigation & Rental staff will be onsite to provide assistance.

The LSU AgCenter's "LaHouse" is designed to stand up to hurricane-force winds, swarming insects and harmful humidity. This family-type home is designed to showcase innovations in home construction for Louisiana’s sub-tropical climate.

LaHouse Resource Center is located at the southwest edge of the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is on Gourrier Lane, between Nicholson Drive and River Road, adjacent the LSU golf course.

Homeowners can learn how to revitalize their lawns and gardens by attending these horticulture programs.

This site contains Web links to information useful for helping you when you build or rebuild in Louisiana.

This fact sheet explains the function of housewrap, examines its attributes, and addresses common problems associated with the use of housewrap. Source: FEMA Home Builder's Guide to Coastal Construction Fact Sheet No. 23.

Water intrusion around window and door openings can cause dry rot and fastener corrosion that weaken the window or door frame or the wall itself, and lead to water damage to interior finishes, mold growth, and preventable building damage during coastal storms. (Source: FEMA 499: Home Builder's Guide to Coastal Construction, Fact Sheet 22)

This fact sheet provides information about pile design and installation. (Source: FEMA 499: Home Builder's Guide to Coastal Construction, Fact Sheet 12)

Construction techniques used by Cameron Parish residents rebuilding their homes will be featured during a tour of homes on September 23, 2007, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.