The move was made partly because the entire town had to berebuilt anyway. A two-mile-wide tornado wiped out just about everystructure on May 4. Federal and state agencies are providing about85% of the rebuilding funds. "We have to make up the gap," says DanWallach, executive director of Greensburg GreenTown, apublic-private partnership dedicated to help rebuild the city. "Itmakes sense to rebuild with sustainable principals. The value ofgreen buildings are greater, and they have a long-termdurability."

He says many developers have pledged to follow the city's lead,including the local John Deere tractor dealership, and a GeneralMotors dealership. Dillons executives have proposed green featuresfor a new store here, to serve as a model for sustainable designfor the parent company, Kroger, Wallach says. A new Main StreetSmall Business Incubator will also be built to green standards,along with the multifamily project Prairie Point, going for LEEDGold certification, and another mixed-use, multifamily developmentby the Commercial Group. "We've got about a dozen buildings rightnow going green," Wallach says.