The town of Greensburg, Kan., virtually destroyed by a tornado in 2007, decided to rebuild 13 public buildings according to green standards. The designs included the use of ground-source heat pumps, daylighting, and high-performance windows.
The result is energy savings worth $200,000 annually. "Greensburg is now providing measured building performance that proves the benefits of sustainable design," says Shanti Pless, senior research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.
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