Within a week after Hurricane Katrina, it became apparent to KC and Kathi King that their family home, that was in the shadow of the breached London Avenue Canal, had been catastrophically destroyed. They faced an indeterminate future of returning to their once modest home in New Orleans, LA. They decided to rebuild in the city they have grown to love. As responsible citizens, they chose to be leaders among their community and not only rebuild, but to do it safely and wisely. 

After a construction process fraught with dismally performing designers and untrustworthy contractors, the Kings teamed up with ICE, New Orleans. We took on the project to help bring to life a hybrid building system integrated with the most efficient appliance, mechanical HVAC systems and renewable energy sources abundant in New Orleans.

The final building system was a reinforced CMU structure with an AAC (autoclaved-aerated concrete) first floor nearly 11' above grade.  A 6" skinless sip wall system was to be utilized as the wall and roof structure ThermaSteel. This gave the building a thermal shell, not unlike what one would find in their common cooler. And adding fixed and awning windows with an insulation value of R-10 was chosen for clean lines and energy efficiency. A Geothermal HVAC system with future opportunities of connecting to the rainwater collection cistern to increase system abilities, was installed and two 250' wells with closed loop systems were used as the HVAC systems heat sync. The geothermal system was also tied into the homes Solar Thermal system to ensure that no grid tied energy source will ever have to be used to create hot water. All of the homes electrical appliances, from lighting to refrigerators, were selected for their reduced energy use, reducing further energy needs as well. Although, this house is not autonomous from the grid with minimal changes, this home could be completely off grid and self-sustaining. 

ICE New Orleans is available for consultation and construction services to all people interested in greening their rebuilding experience. Together, we bring philosophy and teamwork to create solutions no matter how big or small your project is.

Construction sets for this style home are available through ICE. They include stamped engineered site specific drawings for individual needs. Along with the construction documents, comes the team that implemented and designed this home. Let our success with 5919 Pratt drive benefit you, as well as the future of urban development in the US and abroad.

This installation at Brad Pitt's Make it Right!  in the lower ninth ward utilizing our system specifications is one of the, if not the most efficient solar systems at MIR to date.  We utilized the Unirac's S-5 clip for a penetration less installation capable of hurricane force wind in excess of 140 mph.

• 15 Evergreen ES-180 Panels
• Fronius IG plus 3.1
• Penetration less roof mount solution
• Engineered to withstand Hurricane force winds