In the year since an F-5 tornado tore through and leveled the small Kansas town, Greensburg has gained the world’s attention for its plans to rebuild green – very green. On this, the one-year anniversary of the event, the town has attracted major media, documentary filmmakers, photographers, universities and some of the top sustainable design firms in the country. Greensburg, the Series, with Leo DiCaprio will even debut next month on the Discovery Channel’s new “Planet Green”.
There are a growing number of Web sites and other resources devoted to the green rebuilding efforts there. Here are a few:
Greensburg GreenTown, a nonprofit organization established after the tornado to funnel resources and expertise into creating a model green community.
Discovery’s new Planet Green channel begins its 13-part series in June, documentating the daily struggles of a community and its citizens through this massive reconstruction effort.
Kansas City’s BNIM was selected as the city’s master planner, to rebuild Greensburg around the principles of economic, social and environmental sustainability. Since then, BNIM has been retained to design the City Hall and Big Well Museum.
City of Greensburg, Kansas, which recently approved a resolution that all city building projects will be built to LEED Platinum level standards.
Studio 804, a design/build program at the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Urban Planning, is building a “Sustainable Prototype for Greensburg, KS”.
Greensburg Cubed is a project of Design + Build @ Kansas State University, College of Architecture, Planning, and Design to build several small-scale modules demonstrating sustainable structures, systems and materials.
