The LEED Platinum K-12 school in Greensburg, Kansas. <em>Photo from Joah Bussert, Greensburg GreenTown, NREL 19952</em>

On May 4, 2007, a massive tornado struck Greensburg, an agricultural community of about 1,400 people in south-central Kansas, and damaged or destroyed more than 90% of the city's structures, vehicles, and electricity infrastructure. Since then the city has adopted a resolution that all city-owned buildings (more than 4,000 square feet) be designed to a U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum level with a minimum of 42% energy cost savings compared to standard buildings built to code. Today, buildings such as the Arts Center, the SunChips Business Incubator, Kiowa County Memorial Hospital, and the K-12 school have been successfully built to LEED Platinum standards, while the courthouse and other buildings have been rebuilt to LEED Certified and Gold standards saving a combined total of $200,000 in energy costs per year.