Greensburg, KS rebuilt their community to be green after a tornado destroyed the town.

A decade ago, an immense EF-5 tornado reduced the town of Greensburg, KS to rubble. Steve Hewitt, the city administrator was talking to (then) Gov. Kathleen Sebelius about rebuilding & planning for the future when the realization came to them both that Greensburg was going to go green… And they could literally do so from the ground up.

With only about 800 residents, undertaking the task of serving as a benchmark for a sustainable community was “easier” compared to a sprawling metropolis; but it was far from simple. When work began, Greensburg’s eco-accomplishments included:

• Utilizing wind power to generate 100% of their electricity.
• Utilizing low-flow faucets and collecting rainwater in order to conserve water.
• Implementing community-wide single-stream curbside recycling.

The ability to integrate green building standards and practices was difficult, but it has been paying off as the community has the most LEED-certified buildings, per capita, in the world.

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473.

*photo: Photo by Greg Henshall / FEMA