Greensburg - One Year Later

Photo by Greg Henshall
On May 4, 2007, Greensburg, Kansas was leveled by an EF5 tornado, one of the strongest in American history. In that storm, 11 people lost their lives as the tornado tore through the town of about 1500. Within days of the disaster, the people of Greensburg decided not only to rebuild their town, but to rebuild it "green". Today marks the 1 year anniversary of this event.

Treehugger has several different perspectives from the townspeople of Greensburg with interviews from the Mayor, a Resident, the Principle and a Student from Greensburg, KS High School. Green ArchiTEXT picks up on an Architectural Record article stating that the master planning for the town is aiming to be LEED Certified Platinum.

There are also many current and upcoming Web and TV shows devoted to the town and it's plan to become "green". Including "The Good Fight" on the Sundance Channel.com, which you can watch now on their website. The Discovery Channel had a show called "Blown Away : Greensburg, Kansas" which you can view in the video segment below. Also, be on the lookout for the Discovery Channel's Planet Green network, starting on June 4th, who will host a 13 part documentary series called "Greensburg" which "follows the rebirth of a rural town in Middle America into a model for the future. With more than 1,500 people displaced by the tornado and waiting to return to their homes, Greensburg documents the story of a community coming together and facing the enormous task of greening a small city. From climate impact to architecture, building and design, to the personal stories of those affected by the disaster, Greensburg is an inspiring look into the human spirit."

Several relief organizations such as the Greensburg Future Fund and the Greensburg GreenTown are out there to collect money for the rebuilding, so go out and support them in this noble cause if you can.

Deconstruct, Reuse, Repeat

I've been reading a lot of articles recently as well as seeing the PBS e2design program "Grey to Green" on reusing construction and demolition materials to use in new buildings. The idea of reusing discarded building materials also caught my eye last week in my entry about BioSIPs. My interest in Deconstructivism back in my school days as an architectural style has evolved into more support of an idea about current green construction practices such as actual building deconstruction and adaptive reuse.

Colorado has some companies that deconstruct and supply others with these materials, such as Colorado Demolition, Haul Away Recycling Inc., ReSource Yards in Boulder and Fort Collins, the ReUse People, and the national Freecycle network. Recent articles include a Plenty Magazine article about an ebay-like material reuse site called PlanetReuse started by a Kansas City architect. And Treehugger's Deconstruct, Don't Demolish article is about a community oriented group in Western New York called Buffalo ReUse.

According to the U.S. EPA, construction and demolition debris is generated when new structures (residential and non-residential) are built and when existing structures are renovated or demolished. Components typically include concrete, asphalt, wood, metal, gypsum wallboard, glass, plastics, and roofing. Public works projects, such as streets and highways, bridges, piers, and dams, are also included. Many state definitions of construction & demolition debris also include trees, stumps, earth, and rock from the clearing of construction sites. Building demolitions account for 48% of the waste stream, or 65 million tons per year; renovations account for 44%, or 60 million tons per year; and 8%, or 11 million tons per year, is generated at construction sites.

Will the building materials of the future be the building materials of the past?