Before the launch of his Make It Right Foundation last year, Brad Pitt lent his name -- and some cash -- to a rebuilding initiative in the Holy Cross section of New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward headed by the environmental group Global Green USA.

This week -- almost a year after a May groundbreaking -- the first home built after Hurricane Katrina with environmentally sustainable materials was completed. It will serve as a model home and visitor center while other houses are constructed.

Though Pitt hasn't visited the home since its completion, Global Green president and CEO Matt Petersen said he's sure Pitt will stop by eventually.

"He contributed significantly to this home being built," Petersen said. "We're deeply grateful for all that he has done."

The sleek green-colored home is hard to miss among the blocks of flood-damaged homes that have largely gone untouched since Katrina struck in 2005. The poverty-stricken Lower 9th Ward was all but wiped out when a wall of water surged through a broken levee during the storm. Population has been slow to return but developments such as the Make It Right and Global Green housing programs offer hope that the neighborhood will re-emerge.

"We're planning to be here for many years to come," said Global Green's Beth Galante, while touring the three-bedroom, two-bath model home. She said the organization plans to eventually relocate its office from the city's downtown area to the Lower 9th Ward.

Galante is among those like Pitt who say they want to see the neighborhood rebound and serve as an example of how rebuilding with energy-saving materials can improve the quality of lives, particularly for the poor, while helping the environment.

Pitt has said the design of the homes will relieve some of the burden of bills for low-income families. He has said the new designs will cut electric bills by as much as 75 percent; water use, by half.

Global Green's model home offers an up-close look at how the "green" design works.

The style is a modern spin on the traditional shotgun-style architecture New Orleans is known for, with an open floor plan and clear view from the front door through the home and out the back door to allow for good air flow and ventilation.

"It's all about creating light and capturing that breeze," Galante said.

The home is long and narrow like a shotgun, but instead of a traditional pitched roof, the roofline slopes from one side of the home to the other. That allows for the solar panels on the roof to get the maximum amount of sun exposure.

The solar panels will provide for more than half the home's energy needs, Galante said.

Costs to build the Global Green homes will range from $150,000 to $175,000, Petersen said, but the cost to homeowners -- through subsidies -- will be about $120,000-$150,000.

The model home, which Galante said has "all the bells and whistles," cost more than $200,000 to build and eventually will be sold to a resident of the Lower 9th Ward, but until then will serve as a model of what's available in the way of "green" rebuilding.

It boasts a staircase and flooring made of salvaged cypress and pine, energy-saving appliances, recycled ceramic tile, nontoxic paint and fabrics, toilets and faucets designed to conserve water and rugs and shades made with sustainable materials such as seagrass and bamboo.

The home will be open for public tours beginning May 15.

This week, landscape architects planted drought-resistant grass native to south Louisiana on the home's rooftop deck. The grassy area will help insulate the house and collect rain water that will be channeled to the home's cistern.

One stumbling block Global Green has encountered is getting state approval to use rainwater to flush the home's toilets. Galante said Louisiana is not among the more than 40 states that allow for this water-saving technique in its state building codes.

"We're trying to get that changed," she said.

Until then, cistern water will be used for landscaping maintenance, she added.

The Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and other groups have been involved with the project from the beginning. Plans and designs were approved by the association before construction began, Galante said.

The rebuilding initiative started in 2006 when Pitt teamed up with Global Green to sponsor an environmentally friendly design competition to rebuild a section of the Holy Cross neighborhood.

The winning design was submitted by Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchen of Workshop APD in New York. Their plan calls for five single-family homes -- the first being the model home -- as well as an apartment complex and community center.

The Holy Cross project is one of two rebuilding endeavors Pitt personally helped finance for the Lower 9th Ward. He donated $100,000 to help underwrite Global Green's design contest and contributed another $100,000 to help cover prize money.

Last year, when Pitt launched his Make It Right Foundation and rebuilding effort, he pledged to match $5 million worth of contributions. He teamed up with 13 architects, some from as far away as Europe and South Africa to devise designs. He has said each home will be designed and built for affordability, sustainability, safety and aesthetic appeal.

Former president Bill Clinton joined the actor and hundreds of volunteers last month for a groundbreaking ceremony at the site where construction will be under way over the next several months.

The homes for both the Global Green and Make It Right rebuilding ventures will go to former residents of the Lower 9th Ward. Galante said Global Green plans to sell its homes as condominiums, so homeowners will not be burdened with the expense of maintenance of such items as solar panels.

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On the Net: Make It Right, http://www.makeitrightnola.org

Global Green USA, http://www.globalgreen.org

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)