Building a Model Green Community in Greensburg, Kansas

Image Gallery On May 4, 2007, an EF5 tornado leveled the town of Greensburg, Kan. Greensburg GreenTown is a grassroots, community-based organization that is helping to rebuild the town as a model green community. Find the organization online at www.greensburggreentown.org. GREENSBURG GREENTOWN

In May of 2007, Greensburg, Kan., was struck by an EF5 tornado, which killed 11 people and destroyed 95 percent of the buildings in this small southwestern Kansas town. Since that time, Greensburg has made a commitment to rebuilding as a model green community. That effort is already well underway. From city hall, to a new arts center, to the local school, buildings are being constructed with green features such as high performance windows, building integrated solar panels, and geothermal heating and cooling. (You can see photos of some of these buildings in the Image Gallery, and learn much more about specific buildings and their green features by downloading this Greensburg self-guided tour booklet.)

One of the organizations behind the success of this massive green building effort is the nonprofit community group Greensburg GreenTown. Recently, we spoke with Daniel Wallach, the founder and executive director of Greensburg GreenTown. Here’s what he had to say about renewable energy and green building, the challenges facing small rural communities, and the most effective ways to communicate about environmental problems and solutions.

The Idea of a Green Community

How did you first get personally involved with Greensburg?

My wife and I live 35 miles north. We moved from Denver six years ago, and we started a natural foods co-op that included six Greensburg families. After that, I was a rep for natural foods and local gifts from Kansas. Then, the tornado hit about two miles from our house. We were definitely shaken, but we weren’t hit, as our neighbors here in Greensburg were.

In thinking about what we could do, how we could be of service to the community, the idea came up of rebuilding Greensburg as a model green community.

How did that idea get started?

What I had found in my travels here in Kansas was that the small rural towns that were thriving were those that had a distinct identity, and I realized that Greensburg — should they choose that path — would have a distinct identity. With a name like Greensburg, that would help. So I developed a concept paper, and got it to town exactly a week after the storm.

That was the first town meeting. Nobody knew how many people would show up. Nothing was left in town, so everybody was dispersed. But out of the town’s 1,400, there were about 500 at that first meeting, which was a statement. And in speaking to the group of 500, the mayor actually talked about rebuilding in an environmentally friendly manner. So of course, I was delighted.

After the discussions and presentations, I went up and gave the concept paper to the mayor and essentially said, “You have your hands full, why don’t I help? I have experience in non-profit organizations and organizing in general, and I’d be happy to do that.” And they said sure. So we established a 501c3 non-profit and started painting a picture of what it would mean to be a model green community.