Brad Pitt Designed Energy-Efficient Home

Work began on the first of five energy-efficient homes designed by actor Brad Pitt in New Orleans, Louisiana earlier today.

The Troy star, who has a home in the city with girlfriend Angelina Jolie, chaired the design jury on the properties for the Global Green USA project.

The homes will be 100 per cent efficient, producing their own electricity, and form part of a development of 18 apartments and a community centre in the Ninth Ward district of New Orleans. The area was left devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Pitt says, "It doesn't have to cost more. It doesn't have to look like a spaceship in the desert."

"What if a home actually created energy instead of consuming it? What if your utility bill could be nothing?"

And Brad hopes energy-efficient homes will soon be pushed by a US president in the near future.

He adds, "It's going to take a straightforward leader to say... 'We're going to do this in 10 years."

"I'm hoping, I'm crying, for this man or this woman to show up."