SANTA FE, N.M., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- An alliance of green designers, architects, affordable housing specialists and sustainability advocates is teaming up with Native American communities in the southwest to develop green housing best practices for homes on tribal lands.

Recently awarded a $55,000 start-up grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative is a multi-year effort aimed at creating culturally appropriate green building standards that will support tribal leaders with self-determination goals related to natural resource management, energy conservation and healthy homes.

"Native American communities have worked and lived on the tribal land for hundreds of years," said Ed Rosenthal, vice president and director of the National Rural and Native American Program, Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise). "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."

An initiative of Enterprise, the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative will also work with Architecture for Humanity, a global nonprofit design services firm, to work on six case studies as the first phase of the program. In order to be selected, projects must be in the planning or design phase of a housing project and have the full support of the tribal leadership.

"Only with support from tribal elders and leaders can a program like this be successful," said Jamie Blosser, founder, Sustainable Native Communities.  

The selection process is estimated to take six to eight months and the tribes selected will be the basis of case studies. Each tribe will receive technical assistance to accomplish its green building goals. Grant funding may also be available for green construction efforts to assist in bringing the project to successful completion.

"In synergy with the Sustainable Native Collaborative, Architecture for Humanity anticipates working with tribes and others in the design community to help find best practice for building sustainable communities on native land," said Nathaniel Corum, architect and program manager with Architecture for Humanity.

Enterprise is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. For more than 25 years, Enterprise has introduced neighborhood solutions through public-private partnerships with financial institutions, governments, community organizations and others that share our vision. Enterprise has raised and invested more than $10.6 billion in equity, grants and loans to help build or preserve more than 270,000 affordable rental and for-sale homes to create vital communities. Visit www.enterprisecommunity.org and www.enterprisecommunity.com to learn more about Enterprise's efforts to build communities and opportunity.

SOURCE Enterprise

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