Where's the LEED Platinum Home?
Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 07:30PM by Mason Earles 
Flowers are blooming, rabbits are scampering, blizzards are brewing, and GreenTourism season is picking up in Greensburg, Kansas. Of course, I'm one of several guides who you could get when taking GreenTown's GreenTour. As we walk down Sycamore, leaving GreenTown's office, we pass Kansas State's Greensburg Cubed project. Next comes the 5.4.7 Arts Center designed and built by the University of Kansas' Studio 804. Then we'll turn left onto Iowa toward Main Street. At this point, gathered with 25 folks from across the country on the overturned dirt for the Sustainable Streetscape project, I ask a simple question:
Where's the LEED Platinum Home?
So, now I'm asking YOU. Where is it? 1, 2, 3, or 4? Click "Post a Comment" beneath to take a guess. And if you've been on the tour, don't cheat!
I'll be back with the answer tomorrow.
Reader Comments (11)
I did not take the tour but I saw the episode last night about the building of the church, hospital and a couple of homes. I don't remember the names of the family who is going to have the kevlar safe room, but that was impressive. However, based on what was shown in the episode, I would say the LEED platinum home is the Allison's.
I am confused about ratings for homes. I think I read an article on this site about homes with HERS ratings? What is that and how does that compare to LEED?
Whoops, won't let me edit.
I should mention the episode I saw was on the Build it Bigger: Rebuilding Greensburg show. I highly recommend. I learned a lot about green building and the technologies now available.
I was in Greensburg last week just saw a lot of people wandering around the streets, where was the tour?
Hey Everyone,
Emily here from GreenTown. Thanks for all your inquiries--I'll try my best to answer them!
First I'll tackle the HERS v. LEED question. From my understanding HERS is a home energy rating program that analyzes how well one's home performs based on energy efficiency and onsite energy generation. Here's a good site for more information: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=bldrs_lenders_raters.nh_HERS. The LEED for Homes program, on the other hand, is a bit more all-encompassing. Not only does it take into account one's HERS rating, but also considers water usage, ,sustainable materials, indoor air quality, and site selection. Here's the official LEED for Homes website: http://www.usgbc.org/displaypage.aspx?cmspageid=147.
In terms of Green Tours, we, at GreenTown, have been offering guided walks for interested volunteers and tourists (donations gladly accepted, of course!) If interested, please contact our office at 620.723.2790, and we can pen you in.
Thanks again for all the interest and make sure to keep the comments coming!
-emily
I have just found your website, but I've been following your Planet Green shows for 2 years. My sister & I take a birthday trip every year and this year we've chosen to come to Greensburg. I now find that we will be there on the day of your grand opening of the downtown building. That's so exciting. We would like to take a tour, so I will call the phone number to get on your list. I think what your town is doing is a wonderful thing for us all. Thank you.
I think the LEED home is the 1st or 2d one. It's really cool what the people of Greensburg are doing.It's awesome!
Are there any proposals in the works for a "Pod" or "Communal" living center? (Also known by other names.) These are condo communities built around a central community building. The concept is that the individual housing units can be built utilizing less space and materials, (although fully self-contained), because the commons area is utilized for social functions. Most units contain a living area, two bedrooms, one to one and a half baths, and a complete kitchen. The community building houses a large kitchen, community dining room, and bedrooms which can be utilized by condo owner's visiting guests. There are community gardens which contribute food for the evening meals (which can be shared by all residents). These living concepts are active in several parts of the country, and highly appeal to environmentally conscious persons of every age group.
i haven't seen any earth surround homes or buildings ,is there a reason ?
Hi Sally - Thanks for your inquiry about earth surround homes. There is an earth berm home built by a family north of town; Janice & John Haney's residence is featured on our Sustainable Building Database (listed under the "Projects" drop-down menu). http://greensburg.buildinggreen.com/overview.cfm?projectid=1211
GreenTown is looking to showcase as many types of home construction as possible. We are just finishing up on our first Eco-Home; we plan to build as many as a dozen of these demonstration homes. It would be wonderful to be able to feature an earth home eventually. Thanks for your interest - and stay tuned.
I think that they are all LEED, from what I remember the town was going to build everything up to LEED standards.
Hi Liz, Thanks for writing. The LEED certified homes are featured in picture #2. You can read all about the Prairie Pointe project on our website's Sustainable Building Database:
http://greensburg.buildinggreen.com/overview.cfm?projectid=1437
In December of 2007, Greensburg's City Council passed a resolution that all new City-owned projects greater than 4,000 square feet would be built to LEED Platinum standards. We are the first city in the U.S. to do so. Residents and private business owners who have rebuilt sustainably have done so on their own accord.