About Rebuilding Green in Greensburg, Kansas
Greensburg's efforts to rebuild their city as a sustainable community is inspiring other cities, towns, and counties that want to learn more about renewable energy and green building technologies.
Credit: Lynn Billman, NREL
The city of Greensburg, Kansas, is rebuilding as a model green community with the help of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). A tornado destroyed or damaged 95% of the town's homes and businesses on May 4, 2007. Greensburg turned disaster into opportunity and created a vision to rebuild as a sustainable community. The town has gathered a diverse group of experts, including DOE and NREL, to make their vision of rebuilding green a reality.
U.S. Department of Energy in Greensburg, Kansas
DOE came to Greensburg shortly after the tornado. For fiscal year 2007, DOE committed $1.25 million in funding for technical assistance, and an additional $0.9 million for fiscal year 2008. Through DOE, NREL provided a team of experts in energy efficiency and renewable energy. These experts have been working with Greensburg to help the community incorporate energy efficiency and renewable energy into its rebuilding activities. The experts conducted studies, developed renewable energy and energy-efficient business strategies, and assembled financing and ownership options to produce or procure renewable energy technologies.
During the process of providing technical assistance to Greensburg and New Orleans, Louisiana, many lessons were learned about incorporating energy efficiency and renewable energy into disaster recovery. Learn more by downloading publications such as fact sheets, how-to guidelines, and brochures that highlight best practices.
Greensburg developed a master plan for community redevelopment. This and other plans for the town's recovery and rebuilding are available on the town's Web site. The residents also formed a non-profit organization, Greensburg GreenTown™, to provide resources and support as Greensburg rebuilds. The community's commitment to reducing energy use and getting energy from clean, renewable sources is clear. Their master rebuilding plan includes emphasis on the following:
Reduce energy use in buildings:
- New city building projects will achieve LEED Platinum rating (the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system) and be 42% more energy efficient than those built to code
- New commercial buildings and homes will use 30%–40% less energy than those built to code.
Power the community from renewable energy:
- Community-scale electricity from a wind energy system
- Emergency back-up generators that run on biodiesel
- Use of wind and solar power installations and ground-source heat pumps by residents and businesses incentivized by the city.
Use less gasoline and diesel for transportation:
- "Walkable" community with most necessities easily accessible
- Charging stations for electric vehicles
- Centralized biodiesel storage.