Imagine a home with hurricane and tornado resistant shutters, treated structural wood to prevent termites and a controlled ventilation system for indoor air quality.
Members of the LSU AgCenter gathered Tuesday on Gourrier Lane to witness the groundbreaking for a model house designed to help create more practical and durable homes.
The Louisiana House, or the LaHouse, will serve as an educational resource center to help homebuilders and homeowners design homes that are more energy efficient, healthy and more durable in south Louisiana weather, said Paul Coreil, vice chancellor for LSU AgCenter extension service.
Bill Richardson, AgCenter Chancellor, said the house will be useful to Louisiana homeowners because it features many solutions to problems that affect the state.
“It is a very unique project in the state, and it is going to impact the lives of the citizens of this state in many different ways – from energy efficiency to disaster situations, environmental qualities and building materials,” Richardson said.
The LaHouse will have compact florescent lights throughout the house and energy efficient appliances in the kitchen, such as a washer and dryer and dishwasher.
The 4,600-square-foot home will be built on Gourrier Lane, directly next to the LSU Golf Course.
Coreil said LaHouse will cost $1 million, and 90 percent of the total cost will come from donations to the LaHouse.
Claudette Reichel, LaHouse project chair, said the idea for the home came from a similar house built in Florida called the Florida House.
Reichel said the Florida House was designed to educate the community on how to deal with a water shortage.
“We have expanded the [Florida House] idea to include the hazard resistant element and the healthy home element,” Reichel said.
The design is specifically for the climate and conditions in Louisiana, Reichel said.
Reichel said she hopes architects and homebuilders will adopt some of the new trends to use in future homes.
The house will hold seminars and training workshops to help people deal with waste management, termites and other facets of the home, Reichel said.
“It will be a showcase facility but also an educational outreach program that will extend statewide to teach and stimulate adaption to a lot of problems we face in the home,” Reichel said.
Reichel said phase one of the LaHouse project includes building LaHouse and a teaching center in the garage, along with an educational landscape exhibit and parking area.
Coreil said construction on the Lahouse will begin in October, and he hopes it will be completed in May 2004.
The LaHouse design plans and features can be viewed at www.louisianahouse.org.