The rating is based on a system which rewards energy savings. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The townhomes are 'LEED gold certified,' Prahl said. They mark a radical departure from traditional low-income housing, according to Duncan Prahl, who is from Pennsylvania and on contract with the National Renewable Energy Labs. Townhomes are beginning to rise from the ragged tree trunks, weeds and ruins off Main Street. 'We just got our stoplight yesterday, and everybody's excited about that,' Proser said. Their teacher, Laura Proser, says winter break marks a welcome milestone. Classes were held in small, white trailers lined up a quarter-mile from where most of the students now live. Though buildings, books and records were gone, Headrick pledged to open school on time in the fall.įirst-graders recently celebrated the end of an odd semester. And it's a huge opportunity to rebuild - not just rebuild it the way it was but maybe rebuild it a little bit better than it was,' Headrick said. 'Towns are about people, they're not about buildings. Less than two days after the tornado, as huge machines began to tear into the wreckage of his hometown, School Superintendent Darin Headrick managed to put a brave face on. Perhaps they could revive Greensburg and sustain it for generations to come by making it the greenest town in America. The community had been in steep decline before the storm, but city leaders quickly saw opportunity in the disaster. The twister - among the strongest on record - killed 10 people and displaced almost 1,400 residents. In May, a tornado obliterated nearly every house, tree and business.

Greensburg, a tiny town on the vast, flat prairie of western Kansas, is at the center of a grand experiment. The wind keeps blowing, even at dawn at a new 100 megawatt wind farm in Spearville, about 43 miles from Greensburg. Kansas ranks third in the nation in wind-power potential.

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