An alliance of green designers, architects, affordable housing specialists and sustainability advocates is partnering with Native American communities in the Southwest to develop green and culturally appropriate housing best practices.
The alliance, started up with a $55,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Art, is called the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative. It was founded by Jamie Blosser, AIA, LEED AP, associate and director of the Santa Fe, N.M., office of Atkin Olshin Schade Architects. The main partners are Enterprise Community Partners, a provider of capital and expertise for affordable housing and community development, and Architecture for Humanity, a global non-profit design services firm.
"With this collaborative, we are working to explore sustainable new ways to incorporate green design principles into tribal life that will support healthy, sustainable communities," Ed Rosenthal, vice president and director of the National Rural and Native American Program, Enterprise Community Partners, said in a press release.
The collaborative is not setting out to create new green housing standards. Blosser said that was already achieved with the Green Communities Criteria, developed by Enterprise Green Communities.
“We are really looking at combining cultural and environmental sustainability together,” she said.
The best practices will be developed from six housing project case studies, which will be selected over the next six to eight months. To be selected, projects must be in the planning or design phase, incorporate culturally appropriate design and/or green building practices and have the full support of tribal leadership. They must also be in tribal communities in the Southwest.
“The idea is to listen to the tribal leaders' sustainability goals, provide technical assistance to try to meet those goals and compile best practices guidelines based on the initial case studies,” Blosser said.
Tribes interested in submitting their projects for consideration can contact Blosser at info@sustainablenativecommunities.org or 505-216-0925, ext. 4.
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