Finance New Orleans targets greener homes with Innovation Challenge [Video]

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Most people who are looking for financing to buy a new home aren’t thinking about anything green, except cash.

Still, according to one city agency, it’s time for future homeowners to think about it.

“What has inspired us to talk about green finance is our experience during Katrina. Almost immediately after Katrina, our balance sheet declined by 95%. That is almost $400 million of public wealth that was lost to Katrina. One of the reasons it was lost was because we didn’t have sustainable housing and infrastructure or sustainable enough to withstand an event like Katrina,” Finance New Orleans CEO Damon Burns.

Damon Burns is the CEO of Finance New Orleans, an agency created by the city in 1978 to finance affordable housing needs. Changes in the climate have forced the agency to think more about what the future of New Orleans looks like.

“We decided that sustainability …