JOPLIN, Mo. —
Those who want to go green in rebuilding homes and businesses — or at least use products to help them cut down on energy costs — can find help in a local organization called GreenTown Joplin.
The group is a transplant from Greensburg, Kan., a farm community of about 1,400 residents that was destroyed by an EF-5 tornado five years ago. The town decided to build back using sustainable techniques and renewable energy.
Catherine Hart, co-founder and program director of GreenTown Greensburg and GreenTown Joplin, said Wednesday that Greensburg decided to build back in a sustainable fashion within a week after a tornado wiped out most of the town on May 4, 2007.
The fact that such a small community would make such a big commitment was novel, she said. The effort involved hundreds of public meetings to plan how to bring the town back in a sustainable way. Today, about 800 people have moved back into town, and most of its major buildings — from the school to the hospital — are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings by the U.S. Green Building Council.
“It’s like a living science museum to come to Greensburg,” Hart said.
A wind turbine farm outside of town supplies enough electricity to power the city, with any residue being sold to the grid, Hart said.
The school was built largely with recycled materials, including wood repurposed from the salvage of Hurricane Katrina.
The town’s farm implement dealership, BTI Greensburg, scrapped the standard design for its offices and built a LEED Platinum-rated building that serves as a model for others in the chain. In the process, the owners became interested in wind technology and erected two wind turbines to power part of the building and repair shop, cutting the operation’s energy and water use by about half. The business now sells and services wind turbines, Hart said.
Some experimental homes that were constructed allow people from elsewhere to spend a night in one to check out the technology.
One, called the Silo Eco-Home, is constructed of concrete in a silo shape to withstand tornado winds. Hart said two cars were dropped onto the roof of the house to show the durability “because so many injuries occur when things are dropped through roofs in a tornado.”
Greensburg reached out to Joplin and another tornado-ravaged city, Tuscaloosa, Ala., last summer, and established a Joplin branch of the GreenTown movement as a way of “paying it forward,” for the help Greensburg received in rebuilding, Hart said. “We got a lot of resources and attention because we were the first disaster after Katrina, and the government was anxious to get it right” after complaints about slow disaster response and rescue for Katrina survivors, she said.
Wally Crane, of Crane Home Energy Consulting, said the Joplin branch of the GreenTown effort was established in November and recently held a workshop for building contractors on sustainable building techniques.
A similar session for residents who would like to know more about energy-efficient building will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 12, at the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, 320 E. Fourth St., Crane said.
He said the session would be handy to people who are not experienced in green building techniques and do not know how easy it is to incorporate energy- and water-saving features in their properties.
“Once people realize it doesn’t have to be difficult, they tell others,” and the goal is to get communitywide participation, Crane said.
Crane and Hart discussed the GreenTown initiative on Wednesday at a seminar on green infrastructure and construction put on by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the city of Joplin at City Hall. It was intended to help other cities and contractors become acquainted with stricter regulations that will go into effect this year aimed at reducing water pollution from stormwater runoff.
Office location
THE LOCAL GREENTOWN OFFICE is located on the second floor of Suzanne’s Natural Foods, 3106 S. Connecticut Ave. The organization has a website at www.greentownjoplin.org and a page on Facebook.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Group spreads sustainable rebuilding message to Joplin
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
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Farmers Insurance teams up with Rebuild Joplin
Farmers Insurance announced Tuesday that the company will team up with Rebuild Joplin for an initiative to help the community complete its recovery efforts. The company already has placed one of its executives in Joplin, and it is pledging additional funds and volunteer hours by company workers to go toward the city’s recovery.
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SLIDESHOW: One year later, One day of unity, updated
Photos from a day of events commemorating the May 22, 2011 tornado anniversary
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Joplin man continues struggle to recover two years after tornado
As the Joplin tornado passed overhead, sweeping the house at 2430 S. Pennsylvania Ave. away in its wake, there was a moment of calm. Delbert Mcguirk was on his back in the basement, where he had sought shelter along with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren. In that moment of relative quiet, he stared up into the eye of the tornado.
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Storms cause damage throughout the Four States
Four-State Area residents hunkered down twice Monday to ride out tornadoes and powerful spring storms, then went to work cleaning up. The worst damage from Monday night’s storm was being reported in Ottawa County, Okla., near Wyandotte. That followed a report of an EF-1 tornado early Monday morning near Carthage.
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Two plead guilty to post-tornado wire theft
Two defendants pleaded guilty Monday to stealing copper wire from utility poles in the wake of the May 22, 2011, tornado that struck Joplin. Timothy M. Silveria, 45, of Joplin, and Nycoa K. Kracht, 32, of Laurel, Ind., entered open pleas of guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court to felony counts of theft from a public utility.
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FACES OF RECOVERY: 176,869 volunteers help put Joplin together again
They initially came in droves, pouring into Joplin by the thousands during the months following the May 2011 tornado to clear debris, clean up damaged homes and businesses and distribute donations of food, water, clothing and other necessities.
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Therapy dogs
Any question that Louie was bred to put people as ease is put to rest when the golden retriever trots over to where a visitor sits and puts his head on their knee, the dog’s eyes filled with a gentle affection.
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Nova Kluseman and Jeanne Morrow
Nova Kluseman has staked her claim on Wednesdays at the Mercy medical office clinics where she volunteers. The staff at Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri will know it’s Thursday when they see Jeanne Morrow walk through the door.
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Greentree Community Church
Every two months, Joplin plays host to some now-familiar faces. They’re members of Greentree Community Church in St. Louis, and they have “adopted” the city as one of their mission projects since the tornado.
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Virginia Laas
Virginia Laas isn’t an accountant or bookkeeper by trade. But when the tornado caused significant damage to Joplin Schools, and subsequently spurred a massive landslide of donations to the district, Laas voluntarily stepped into those roles to fill a need that administrators were too busy to handle.
- More May 2011 Joplin tornado Headlines
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