Curbing Commercial Energy Use Through Equitable Legislation Design
New Orleans is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving building energy efficiency. It has successfully reduced energy use in its City buildings and launched the Downtown Energy Challenge. Despite restrictions on regulating natural gas use in private buildings, the City aims to lead by example and encourage others... Read more
Increasing Revenue for Sustainable Water Systems
Water and drainage management in New Orleans faces significant challenges due to outdated metering systems, insufficient staffing, and many delinquent accounts. The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) relies on revenue from water bill payments to upgrade and expand the necessary infrastructure. However, revenue collection has been difficult,... Read more
Energy Efficiency in Water Utilities
The community strives to address the high energy consumption issue within the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO). Despite previous efforts to improve energy efficiency, there is still untapped potential for energy savings within SWBNO's facilities. The community is dedicated to reducing energy consumption to operate more cost-effectively... Read more
Advancing Equitable Strategies for Vehicle Electrification
The City of New Orleans has set an ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2035 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Since transportation is responsible for 44% of the city's GHG emissions, the City aims to transition 75% of its fleet to low- or no-emission vehicles... Read more
Building Urban Resilience by Integrating Community-based Power Supplies
One area of urban resilience New Orleans is focused on improving is within the electric grid. The electric grid is central to the web of interconnected systems that must operate resiliently to serve communities during times of extreme weather. From medical treatment to dry shelter, food, and clean water, nearly... Read more
Scaling Diversion Programs to Reduce Incarceration and Improve Resident Health
Every year in the U.S., two million people with mental illness are booked into jails, leading to a cycle of incarceration for these individuals. One in three persons in the Orleans Justice Center Jail are treated for addiction or mental illness, and these individuals remain in the jail more than... Read more
Building Intergenerational Wealth in the Black Community
In 2020, New Orleans marks the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the 10th anniversary of the BP oil spill. From each disaster, the city has rebuilt, but Black residents have been largely left behind, with six times as many Black households living in poverty than white households. These economic... Read more
Targeting Health Inequities for Black Residents
The New Orleans Health Department (NOHD) recently conducted a comprehensive community health assessment to gain an inclusive picture of the health status of residents. The assessment revealed five main social determinants of health — crime and violence, insufficient infrastructure, unhealthy environments, lack of jobs and fair wages, and low-quality and... Read more
Designing a Strategy to Modernize the City’s Fleet
More than 2,000 vehicles that support the delivery of a wide range of public services fall under the purview of the City of New Orleans’ Equipment Maintenance Division (EMD). To support the agency with the management of the fleet system, FUSE executive fellow Monica Soileau worked with the EMD to... Read more
Building a Resilient, Energy-Efficient, Self-Sufficient Utility Service
The pumping and drainage system of the city of New Orleans, which sits below sea level, is regularly tested by extreme weather events. FUSE Executive Fellow Priya Dey-Sarkar joined the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWB- NO) to help implement enhanced process safety controls, create an enterprise risk... Read more