This model home rendering shows the unique and sustainable design being promoted in the rebuilding process.
Green Living
The Greening of Greensburg
A small Kansas town makes a big mark in eco-friendly living.
BY
Kimberly Stern
PHOTOGRAPHY
Renderings courtesy of Robert McLaughlin

Once the ferocious winds of the massive EF5 tornado diminished on May 4, 2007, the innovative rebuilding plans for the obliterated two-square-mile town began. In 24 months, the Kiowa County burg has become a literal laboratory of living sustainability and earned   itself a spotlight on the national and international map of eco-friendly trends and cutting-edge products.

The stunning take-charge leadership in tiny Greensburg is proof positive that environmentally conscious living is attainable in both the public and private sectors when collaborative teamwork and a striking vision dovetail.

Greensburg’s crash course in green living came at a great price (12 people perished in the monster storm and 95 percent of the town was leveled), but when the community came together and decided to take an environmentally friendly initiative in reviving their landscape, brilliant things happened.

Mason Earles, an urban planner and project manager for the unique Chain of Eco-Homes that’s part of Greensburg GreenTown — a community-based grassroots organization — says the rebuilding is a balance of idealism and practicality.

“Greensburg is striving to be a model green community,” Mason explains. “People from large metropolitan areas like Kansas City and mega cities like Los Angeles and New York City can implement ideas for their infrastructures and residential and commercial building based on what’s happening in southwest Kansas.”

From a commercial perspective, the city decided to require structures larger than 4,000 square feet be built to LEED Platinum standards. A business incubator will hatch approximately eight to 10 start-up businesses to give a boost to Main Street. City Hall is scheduled to be LEED Platinum, and the 27,000-square-foot   BTI-Greensburg John Deere dealership owned by the Estes brothers is already an educational eco example for other John Deere facilities around the country. 

Greensburg’s K-12 school broke ground in November and will be completed in 2010 as a LEED Platinum structure, while the Kiowa County Memorial Hospital will be the nation’s first LEED Platinum-certified critical access facility when it opens next year.

The Chain of Eco-Homes includes 12 model green demonstration homes emulating various technologies in sustainable design that ultimately will become an eco-tourism destination in Greensburg for people from around the world who want to educate themselves on the benefits of sustainable living. 

“We’ll have a variety of homes with  different wall systems, including an ICF (Insulating Concrete Form) home, a SIP (Structural Insulated Panel) home, a straw bale home, an adobe home and a typical stick frame home with advanced 2-by-6 wall construction,” Mason notes.  “People can check into the home of their choice for several days. It’s sort of like a bed-and-breakfast without the breakfast.”

He also says individuals planning to build a sustainable home or renovate an existing one will have a unique opportunity to see firsthand the products and materials necessary to achieve a green structure. In addition, the Greensburg Tourism Committee is compiling an inventory of other sites in the area that tourists can visit for other environmentally conscious options, like a nearby wind farm. “People can learn about the mechanics and technology of a farm and what it means to them as a consumer of responsible    energy,” Mason says.

The Greensburg model homes are optimal examples of how an eco-friendly home can still have the appearance of a traditional home while attaining higher energy efficiency. “A well-insulated home saves people money, energy and helps the environment, and that’s something people can readily understand,” Mason says.

Robert McLaughlin, a Shawnee-based architectural designer, has spearheaded the ICF house in the Chain of Eco-Homes project, which he likens to stacked Styrofoam Legos. “They’re hollow, and concrete is poured into them,” he says. “They have a high R-value (resistance to heat flow).”

The ICF home will be 1,400 square feet, relatively small by typical standards of a three-bedroom home. The home is designed to capture rainwater for use during dry periods and will have radiant flooring heated by solar panels. 

As the so-called “America’s model green community” takes shape on a landscape shattered by Mother Nature, the eco-partners involved in the painstaking rebuilding process are taking great care to lead by green example.

For more information, visit www.greensburggreentown.org.