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Rebuilding Greensburg, KS: A Look at an Emerging Green Economy

By Carol McClelland

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 09Oct2009 Word count: 1031 Viewed: 50 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

A recent New York Times article, entitled "After a Tornado, a Kansas Town Rebuilds Green," highlights a community that had an unusual opportunity to rebuild from the ground up. The community's journey provides an amazing glimpse into what happens as a community makes the decision to go green and acts on their plan.

Greensburg's Story

In May 2007, an intense tornado basically flattened the town of Greensburg, Kansas (http://www.greensburgks.org) in a matter of minutes. It was a direct hit. The tornado damaged 90 percent of the buildings in the town. After the dust settled, the community came together and decided they wanted to rebuild their community. Rather than rebuild what they had, they created a vision for the future of their town that will make it the greenest town in the United States. (At the end of this article you'll find links to a number of the documents they created during this phase of their project).

Greensburg's accomplishments give us an unusual inside look at what happens as a community wrestles with how to become green. If you have the opportunity to watch the cable show, Greensburg, (http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/greensburg/) that's chronicling their progress, you can see the kinds of conversations, decisions, challenges, and successes they have.

Results of Greensburg's Rebuilding

In a little over two years, Greensburg has made an amazing amount of progress. As you read the following list of projects that have been completed or are in process, notice the results they are expecting over time. The companies and residents investing in green buildings are saving money, using far less energy, reducing their carbon emissions, and creating jobs within the town.

- The first LEED platinum building in the state of Kansas was the 1,670 sq foot Greensburg Arts Center building, designed by graduate students at the University of Kansas. It is powered by wind, solar and geothermal energy and has architectural features that reduce the normal amount of power consumption.

- A rebuilt 28,500 sq foot, $3 million John Deere tractor and equipment store has also been built to LEED platinum standards, including skylights, plumbing systems that save nearly 40,000 gallons a year, and two wind turbines generating a portion of the electricity used in the building. The buildings owners estimate they will save between $30,000 and $40,000 in costs compared to their old building.

- A 10,000 sq. ft., $3.4 million dollar business "incubator" has been built using a combination of funds from the USDA and the private sector including Frito-Lay Sun Chips, and the actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. This building will provide low rent and temporary housing for local small businesses such as a styling salon and a furniture store.

- Greensburg passed an ordinance stating that all municipal buildings over 4,000 sq. ft. be built to LEED platinum standards. The 4,700 sq ft. City Hall is about to open after being built to this standard.

- The city is using LED street lights that focus the light on the street and allows the residents to see the stars as well as saving 70% in energy and maintenance costs over the old sodium vapor lamps.

- The 1914 Kiowa County Courthouse survived the tornado and is being renovated to gold LEED standards at a cost of $5 million. The building is being reconstructed with highly insulated walls, geothermal wells for heating and cooling, and energy efficient lighting.

- A large new county hospital is being constructed to LEED platinum standards. It will have a wind turbine to generate power, insulating glass windows, a system to process water from the laundry, showers and lavatories, and a way to capture rainwater and use it to flush the toilets plus other features that save energy resulting in a large cost savings.

- A 32 unit LEED certified town-home complex is under construction. Many of the 200 homes already rebuilt in Greensburg have been rebuilt green.

- Eventually all of the electricity needed to power Greensburg will come from wind turbines. Plans are under way to build a 12.5 megawatt, 10 turbine wind farm that will be capable of powering up to 4,000 homes.

- Ribbon cutting occurred this month at the new recycling center in Greensburg.

Green Career Opportunities

In addition to gaining a new appreciation of what it takes to bring a green element into a city's plan, you can also uncover a number of career possibilities.

- Green building - This is the most obvious sector with green careers in this situation. Clearly lots of people have been working to reconstruct individual buildings and the infrastructure of the town, from the roads and parks to the power infrastructure.

- Green design - All that's been built had to be designed by architects and designers. Again, the scale of this work varies from the individual residences to the large scale projects, from company locations to city buildings and the hospital.

- City planning - Consultants and local government employees assessed the current assets of the town and then created the new green, sustainable vision for the town.

- Building supplies and materials - Designing and manufacturing the materials used to build the structures in Greensburg is essential. Along with the manufacturing comes marketing, sales, and distribution of the materials.

- Power generation - Several power generation methods have been integrated into the town of Greensburg. Think solar, wind, and geothermal if you'd like to be involved in this part of greening the town.

Dive into the Details

If you'd like to work in any of the fields above, take some time to explore how Greensburg has transformed their city. By reading these documents you'll get a feeling for the process they went through, which may help you gain a better understanding of the part you'd like to play in the green world.

- Read the full NY Times article about Greensburg. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/realestate/commercial/23kansas.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=greensburg&st=cse - Explore the Greensburg Vision created in December, 2007. http://www.greensburgks.org/recovery-planning/071212-VisionDocument-compressed.pdf -

Review the maps included in the Greensburg Atlas. http://www.greensburgks.org/recovery-planning/071213-Draft%20Atlas-Compressed.pdf

- Take a look at Greensburg's Sustainable Master Plan, adopted in May 2008. http://www.greensburgks.org/recovery-planning/Greensburg%20Comprehensive%20Master%20Plan%2001-16-08%20DRAFT.pdf

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