Greensburg - American Planning Association

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Because of the large number of new
buildings being constructed in
Greensburg, there is an opportunity to
greatly improve the overall energy
efficiency, thus reducing the required
base load and monthly energy bills.
There are many ways for the City to
encourage high efficiency building
practices and both grassroots and
leadership efforts must be active for the
community to meet its goals. The
following targets were identified
because they are achievable, cost
effective, and do not require on-site
renewable generation. They can be
achieved with a simple, prescriptive set
of recommendations such as ASHRAE’s
Advanced Energy Design Guidelines
(www.ashrae.org/aedg). The science at
the time of this plan shows that
anything above these targets would
require building energy modeling and
further analysis to ensure the level of
savings is being met within a reasonable
cost. As technologies and understanding
progress these targets could increase.
In January, 2008, the City of
Greensburg established progressive
energy efficiency requirements on its
City facilities by adopting a resolution
requiring LEED Platinum design for new
City-owned buildings. The resolution
identifies a target efficiency of 42
percent above code for these projects.
It is recommended that similar targets
be formally suggested for all building
projects in town. With the help of NREL
scientists and other consultants the
following target efficiencies for
residential projects and for commercial
buildings have been identified.
Residential Efficiency Target
The City should formally recommend
that individual homeowners and/or
residential developers use an integrated
design approach to achieve at least 40
percent energy savings relative to
current building code.
Commercial Efficiency Target
Commercial buildings include non-profit
and non-city-owned public buildings. A
formal policy recommendation made by
the City for commercial building
efficiencies should suggest that such
projects utilize an integrated design
approach to achieve at least 30 percent
energy savings above current building
code requirements.
Citywide Targets
Because of the lack of pre-tornado data
and the inability to predict the rate of
growth and future industry in
Greensburg, it is nearly impossible to
create an appropriate citywide target
for energy efficiency. However, it is
recommended that the City create a
framework for tracking energy use that
will allow future targets to be set. By
tracking and recording the impact of
energy efficiency the town’s successes
can be celebrated, and annual targets
can be created and continually
improved.
Efficiency Targets
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
has been an invaluable resource for Greensburg’s
energy initiatives. They have completed extensive
reports that should be reference throughout the
rebuilding process.
The Alison Home in Greensburg is built from Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) and is 58 percent more efficient
than residential building codes dictate, it easily meets the recommended residential efficiency target.
Solar panels can be added to further decrease
energy use.
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