This town was almost blown off the map

Dixson credits community meetings in the first days following the tornado for putting people on the same page. “It was critical right off the bat that we start meeting in a big tent outside of town,” he says. “We did everything out there.” Each entity in town, from hospital higher-ups to city officials and nonprofit leaders, would share their thoughts inside that tent in a space where everyone could hear. “That helped tie everything together, so we were working together,” Dixson says.

The early rebuilding efforts generated a tremendous amount of energy, and some remarkable examples of eco-friendly ingenuity. Local resident Brad Estes says greening Greensburg “was a 24/7 job.” Early on, many were unsure if they wanted to spend, in some cases, over twice as much in building costs to do it the green way. However, Estes notes that those that made a commitment to a sustainable rebuild “feel like it’s paying back in lower energy prices and better conservation of resources.”

Estes is now the director of wind operations for BTI Wind Energy, a local wind turbine company that was born from the aftermath of the tornado. The business sells small-scale turbines for residential and commercial use. Over the past few years, it’s expanded from being just a local supplier to installing and servicing turbines in other states and Canada — the perfect inverse of the Keystone XL tar-sands pipeline.

On a larger scale, the city of Greensburg teamed up with John Deere Renewable Energy and the Kansas Power Pool to build a production-scale wind farm five miles outside of town. Estes describes the wind farm the same way some dude at the bar might describe his ’67 Pontiac GTO: “Yeah, there are 10 units of 1.25 megawatt Suzlon turbines, generating 12.5 megawatts in total.” The juice flows into the Kansas Power Pool, which feeds a number of local municipalities, but Greensburg receives renewable energy credits and the bragging rights to getting 100 percent of its power from the wind.

That 100 percent wind power only refers to what is imported from elsewhere, however. Estes estimates that around 8 percent of Greensburg’s energy is generated from assorted wind turbines and solar panels scattered around the town itself. That’s thanks to Greenburg’s net-metering policy, which which allows resident to install rooftop solar panels or backyard wind turbines, feed any leftover power right into the grid, and then get paid for it — the full retail price. This allows residents to pay off the up-front cost of panels and turbines more quickly, bringing the cost of renewables within reach of more of the populace.

And thanks to all the new high-efficiency buildings, including the hospital, the local John Deere dealership, and the arts center, Greensburg is saving $200,000 annually in energy costs on 13 of its largest buildings, according to a recent study by the the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Private residences got into the act — examples here, here, or here — and there’s this cool map showing all of Greensburg’s sustainable building projects.

Greensburg is understanding sustainability in its own terms. “Being green” in Greensburg is not a primary motivator, but a product of respecting resources for future generations, working toward self-sufficiency, and adapting to the economic and physical climate.

The true test of the new approach, however, will come with time. Will the new green infrastructure attract businesses and jobs, or will Greensburg become what Mayor Dixson calls a “green ghost town”? On that front, it may still be too soon to say, but there are positive signs. While the population was nearly halved after the tornado, those that stayed seem to be sticking around, and many of the businesses have returned: the hardware store, the coffee shop, banks, the pharmacy.