You've probably already heard about the small town of Greensburg, Kansas?
Greensburg was hit by a devastating EF-5 tornado in early May, 2007. The twister leveled 95% of the town's homes and buildings. In the aftermath, Greensburg city officials committed to using 100 percent renewable energy and mandated that every city building be built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Platinum standards.
GreenTown is a community-based organization which has worked alongside Greensburg and Kiowa county officials, business owners, and local residents to help make Greensburg a model of sustainable living for the rest of the country. According to the
GreenTown website, the organization serves as "an educational resource for the community, a conduit through which donations can be distributed, and a representative to those outside the community who are interested in the Green Initiative".
I found both the website and the town's story quite compelling. The site offers a comprehensive database of each of the green homes and buildings that has been built as part of the reconstruction, as well as a walk through the town in the form of a
"Green Tour" PDF. As an example, the site describes the materials and techniques used to build the town's new City Hall (pictured below).
Greensburg's GreenTown City Hall
The town is still a work-in-progress, but what an amazing story!