LSU AgCenter LaHouse celebrates 15 years, unveils new offerings

BATON ROUGE — For 15 years, the LSU AgCenter LaHouse Research and Education Center has been helping Louisiana build smarter, stronger and more resilient homes, and recover from storms. On July 20, the center celebrated its 15th anniversary of service to Louisiana on the grounds of its demonstration home on the LSU campus.
“Many people think LaHouse is this building,” said LaHouse Director Carol Friedland, gesturing to the demonstration home. “LaHouse is not a building. LaHouse is a comprehensive research extension and training program working to bring resilient, sustainable and healthy homes to Louisiana.”
Friedland said the anniversary served as a time to share the center’s successes and its vision for the future.
The new offerings of LaHouse include an in-depth virtual tour that provides detailed descriptions of LaHouse features and gives in-person visitors insights on the many exhibits.
Additionally, the website features research conducted by graduate students at LaHouse on wind and flood resilience and resources for teachers to bring building science education into their classroom. LaHouse also oversees the Louisiana Flood Maps Portal.
The website also features monthly blogs and quarterly newsletters related to timely housing topics and aims to educate every citizen of Louisiana on the benefits of a high-performance home.
Matt Lee, LSU vice president for agriculture and dean of the LSU College of Agriculture, said LaHouse is a critical piece in the LSU AgCenter’s mission.
“The AgCenter’s LaHouse program recognizes that housing is an integral part of agriculture, supporting rural communities with affordable and safe homes,” Lee said.
Researchers at LaHouse are studying techniques to make a home more resilient against high-speed winds and floods. Through creating tools to help homeowners and building professionals understand the benefits of mitigation, researchers aim to provide tangible outcomes for the citizens of Louisiana.
Robert Twilley, LSU vice president for research and economic development, talked about the importance of R&D — research and development — but said the benefit of LaHouse is the additional ‘D’ the center brings.
“Demonstration is so important,” Twilley said. “You’ve got to have the demonstration-level capacity if you’re really going to get the outcomes of the research that you’re generating,”
Friedland and extension agents working with LaHouse travel throughout the state to festivals, expos and other gatherings to provide outreach to communities.
“All of this is to bring information where people desperately need it in those areas impacted by recent disasters,” Fried-land said.
The LaHouse team also is working to expand our resources for aging in place and energy and resource efficiency.
In addition to the anniversary gathering, LaHouse also held its first public open house since 2019 on Saturday, July 22. Dozens of attendees were able to get a look at the new exhibits and offerings and talk to new staff members about their many different areas of expertise.
For more information on LaHouse and its resources, visit www.lsuagcenter.com/LaHouse.