Rebuilding Katrina-Damaged Homes in Louisiana
An Extreme Makeover project
As if the
destruction of Hurricane Katrina wasn’t enough trauma for the Usea families and
their homes in Westwego, LA, a tornado in February 2007 blew through the area to
practically finish what Katrina had started.
Brad and Laura
Usea’s home was severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina, but Brad’s mother
Grace’s home—where his older brother Chris and twin brother Chad also lived—was
completely destroyed, leaving them homeless.
Brad and Laura Usea
took their family into their home, only to see the already-battered house, as
well as the backyard trailer where Chris lived, take more hits from the
tornado.
In the meantime,
Brad and Chad Usea, both volunteer firefighters, were busy helping other
people.
Meanwhile, in New
Orleans, Pastor Willie Walker—who had come to New Orleans in 1998 to help drug
addicts, AIDS patients, the homeless, and the poor—found his church destroyed in
Hurricane Katrina’s wake. Unable to rebuild the church, he nonetheless continued
his pastoral work.
Enter the crew of
Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition. For the
television series’ season finale, as the last stop on a 50-state tour, program
producers put out the call for a volunteer rebuilding effort of the Usea homes,
as well as Pastor Walker’s church.
 |
Natural stone pavers replaced damaged asphalt walkways and driveways. |
 |
Pavers were also installed next to a stormwater grate. |
 |
More than 400 square feet of natural stone pavers were installed. |
One company that
answered the call was Permapave Industries LLC, a company that provides
permeable natural stone pavers with an underlying stone reservoir that stores
surface pollution or runoff before allowing it to filter into the
soil.
Permapavers have a
flow-through rate of up to 30 liters per second and can remove 100% of gross
pollutants from stormwater as it passes through the
substrate.
Permapave is a
two-year-old company. Eric Aronson, president, and his partner Vincent Buonauro
acquired the rights to manufacture, sell, distribute, and license the Permapave
product from Australia. The Australian company has been in business for 10
years.
Aronson had sent a
sample of Permapave a year ago to Diane Korman, the senior producer of
Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition.
“There is no product
out there that does what we do, and they looked at many different products,” he
says. “[Korman] was looking for the right job to use it and thought New Orleans
would be perfect.”
“Ending the
Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition 50-state
tour in New Orleans with a green build will be a true testament to the growing
trend in the homebuilding industry to go green,” says Korman. “We turned to
Permapave to provide a product that gave a significant runoff reduction and
enhancement of water drainage. This product actually gave us three points toward
our Platinum LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certification,
making it one of only 10 homes in the United States to earn the US Green
Building Council’s highest honor.”
Permapave donated
about 400 square feet of natural stone pavers, says Korman. The pavers were
installed as hardscape to replace damaged asphalt walkways and driveways for
three different houses for the Usea family and Pastor Walker’s
church.
The Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition rebuilding
efforts were conducted during the week of March 8, 2008, with the results aired
on May 18, 2008.
“Lot coverage is
very judicial—impervious surfaces versus pervious surfaces—so if you could have
the same strength as asphalt and have all that water run right through, you’ve
solved a major issue and you get the quality of both,” notes
Aronson.
While Aronson’s
company provides the Permapave product and carries out the installation, in the
Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition case, the
installation was done by a crew working on the job.
“Anyone who can
install a paver can install Permapave,” notes Aronson.
Job challenges
focused on the tight working schedule of 24/7, says Aronson. “And there were a
hundred people running around on location,” he adds. “That makes it very
difficult, especially where people walk. Other than that, it went as smooth as
silk.”
The permeable pavers
are embedded in gravel and grouted with polymer concrete; the surface
coefficient of friction exceeds non-slip standards, even when wet. The pavers
come in blonde, Karuah red, gold, bronze, grey, honeycomb, and black
colors.
The pavers can keep
up to 60% of phosphorus, 70% of heavy metals, and 98% of hydrocarbons out of the
ground, as well as gross pollutants, “thus putting real water quality back into
the ground,” says Aronson.
Aronson says
Permapave can qualify a project for up to six LEED credits and has a variety of
applications, such as driveways, roofs, retaining walls, and strip
drains—“anything where you need water to flow through.”
To maintain
permeability, the system can be cleaned using a mechanical vacuum, with
contaminated media collected and transferred to an appropriate disposal site,
rather than flushed to outfall waterways. The contaminant profile and frequency
of rain events dictates how often maintenance must be
performed.
Two cleaning lines
can work simultaneously from the
Permapave cleaning machine up to 100 meters away; the machine is equipped with a
fitting that tows behind a vehicle for cleaning large areas of
pavement.
Aronson says he’s
honored that his company’s product was chosen to be featured on Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition.
“I feel
unbelievably fortunate to have been selected by Extreme
Makeover, especially for the
season finale, especially in New Orleans,” says Aronson.
“We’ve had such an
unbelievable response from that show because it’s in New Orleans and obviously
there’s a big issue with the flooding,” he continues. “The producers were very
happy with the results. Because it is in New Orleans, the biggest problem they
had was drainage. So they are very excited about this.”
South of
Louisiana, in Florida, is the biggest market for Permapave, Aronson
notes.
“During hurricane
season, there are gale-force winds that blow these roofs off these houses like
it’s nothing, because wind is a very powerful force—the wind will get underneath
the roof, lift it up, and cause damage. With Permapave, the wind—like the
water—flows right through the stone, so there’s no lift factor,” he
says.
“It’s good for
drainage purposes, because the water table is so high,” he adds. “And it’s not a
question just of water drainage, but also water reclamation—keeping that water
and putting it in the right place, especially for golf courses where they spend
a tremendous amount of money on maintaining those areas. They can actually just
reclaim that water and then reuse the same water over again.”
Author's Bio: Carol Brzozowski is a journalist living in Coral Springs, FL.
September 2008
Rebuilding Katrina-Damaged Homes in Louisiana
An Extreme Makeover project
Up to 30 liters of water per second can flow through the pavers.
As if the
destruction of Hurricane Katrina wasn’t enough trauma for the Usea families and
their homes in Westwego, LA, a tornado in February 2007 blew through the area to
practically finish what Katrina had started.
Brad and Laura
Usea’s home was severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina, but Brad’s mother
Grace’s home—where his older brother Chris and twin brother Chad also lived—was
completely destroyed, leaving them homeless.
Brad and Laura Usea
took their family into their home, only to see the already-battered house, as
well as the backyard trailer where Chris lived, take more hits from the
tornado.
In the meantime,
Brad and Chad Usea, both volunteer firefighters, were busy helping other
people.
Meanwhile, in New
Orleans, Pastor Willie Walker—who had come to New Orleans in 1998 to help drug
addicts, AIDS patients, the homeless, and the poor—found his church destroyed in
Hurricane Katrina’s wake. Unable to rebuild the church, he nonetheless continued
his pastoral work.
Enter the crew of
Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition. For the
television series’ season finale, as the last stop on a 50-state tour, program
producers put out the call for a volunteer rebuilding effort of the Usea homes,
as well as Pastor Walker’s church.
|
Natural stone pavers replaced damaged asphalt walkways and driveways. |
|
Pavers were also installed next to a stormwater grate. |
|
More than 400 square feet of natural stone pavers were installed. |
One company that
answered the call was Permapave Industries LLC, a company that provides
permeable natural stone pavers with an underlying stone reservoir that stores
surface pollution or runoff before allowing it to filter into the
soil.
Permapavers have a
flow-through rate of up to 30 liters per second and can remove 100% of gross
pollutants from stormwater as it passes through the
substrate.
Permapave is a
two-year-old company. Eric Aronson, president, and his partner Vincent Buonauro
acquired the rights to manufacture, sell, distribute, and license the Permapave
product from Australia. The Australian company has been in business for 10
years.
Aronson had sent a
sample of Permapave a year ago to Diane Korman, the senior producer of
Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition.
“There is no product
out there that does what we do, and they looked at many different products,” he
says. “[Korman] was looking for the right job to use it and thought New Orleans
would be perfect.”
“Ending the
Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition 50-state
tour in New Orleans with a green build will be a true testament to the growing
trend in the homebuilding industry to go green,” says Korman. “We turned to
Permapave to provide a product that gave a significant runoff reduction and
enhancement of water drainage. This product actually gave us three points toward
our Platinum LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certification,
making it one of only 10 homes in the United States to earn the US Green
Building Council’s highest honor.”
Permapave donated
about 400 square feet of natural stone pavers, says Korman. The pavers were
installed as hardscape to replace damaged asphalt walkways and driveways for
three different houses for the Usea family and Pastor Walker’s
church.
The Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition rebuilding
efforts were conducted during the week of March 8, 2008, with the results aired
on May 18, 2008.
“Lot coverage is
very judicial—impervious surfaces versus pervious surfaces—so if you could have
the same strength as asphalt and have all that water run right through, you’ve
solved a major issue and you get the quality of both,” notes
Aronson.
While Aronson’s
company provides the Permapave product and carries out the installation, in the
Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition case, the
installation was done by a crew working on the job.
“Anyone who can
install a paver can install Permapave,” notes Aronson.
Job challenges
focused on the tight working schedule of 24/7, says Aronson. “And there were a
hundred people running around on location,” he adds. “That makes it very
difficult, especially where people walk. Other than that, it went as smooth as
silk.”
The permeable pavers
are embedded in gravel and grouted with polymer concrete; the surface
coefficient of friction exceeds non-slip standards, even when wet. The pavers
come in blonde, Karuah red, gold, bronze, grey, honeycomb, and black
colors.
The pavers can keep
up to 60% of phosphorus, 70% of heavy metals, and 98% of hydrocarbons out of the
ground, as well as gross pollutants, “thus putting real water quality back into
the ground,” says Aronson.
Aronson says
Permapave can qualify a project for up to six LEED credits and has a variety of
applications, such as driveways, roofs, retaining walls, and strip
drains—“anything where you need water to flow through.”
To maintain
permeability, the system can be cleaned using a mechanical vacuum, with
contaminated media collected and transferred to an appropriate disposal site,
rather than flushed to outfall waterways. The contaminant profile and frequency
of rain events dictates how often maintenance must be
performed.
Two cleaning lines
can work simultaneously from the
Permapave cleaning machine up to 100 meters away; the machine is equipped with a
fitting that tows behind a vehicle for cleaning large areas of
pavement.
Aronson says he’s
honored that his company’s product was chosen to be featured on Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition.
“I feel
unbelievably fortunate to have been selected by Extreme
Makeover, especially for the
season finale, especially in New Orleans,” says Aronson.
“We’ve had such an
unbelievable response from that show because it’s in New Orleans and obviously
there’s a big issue with the flooding,” he continues. “The producers were very
happy with the results. Because it is in New Orleans, the biggest problem they
had was drainage. So they are very excited about this.”
South of
Louisiana, in Florida, is the biggest market for Permapave, Aronson
notes.
“During hurricane
season, there are gale-force winds that blow these roofs off these houses like
it’s nothing, because wind is a very powerful force—the wind will get underneath
the roof, lift it up, and cause damage. With Permapave, the wind—like the
water—flows right through the stone, so there’s no lift factor,” he
says.
“It’s good for
drainage purposes, because the water table is so high,” he adds. “And it’s not a
question just of water drainage, but also water reclamation—keeping that water
and putting it in the right place, especially for golf courses where they spend
a tremendous amount of money on maintaining those areas. They can actually just
reclaim that water and then reuse the same water over again.”