GREENSBURG, Kan. -- The John Deere dealership in town is upping its green component. Only this time, green doesn't just apply to farm implements.

BTI-Greensburg plans to serve as a model of energy efficiency and sustainability. The dealership is rebuilding after an EF5 tornado destroyed the business and most of the town of 1,400.

On May 4, 2007, strong winds ripped into the 42,000-square-foot dealership, tossing around combines and trashing tractors.

The dealership, one of Greensburg's largest employers, managed to salvage some inventory with help from dozens of volunteers but still suffered about a $24 million loss, store manager Mike Estes said.

After the storm, John Deere employees and businesses elsewhere in the Midwest rallied to supply the decimated dealership and local farmers with equipment and parts, Estes added.

The dealership is going to great lengths to meet the U.S. Green Building Council's highest standards for energy efficiency and sustainability.

When the dealership reopens, employees will work and do business in a building that utilizes more natural lighting and wind energy, Estes said.

Designs calls for maximizing space, conserving water and using multiple heating sources.

"It's a pretty aggressive plan," Estes said.

Contractors are following a green building rating system development by the U.S. Green Building Council, known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. In Greensburg, the new City Hall and other municipal structures, a school and business incubator will uphold the U.S. Green Building Council's highest standards.

"A stamp of good house-keeping," Estes said.

Workers are using recycled steel as they construct the dealership.

And the environment is taken into consideration when choosing tile, carpet and cabinets for the building, Estes said.

The process of building green is tedious and challenging and a steep learning curve, Estes said. Building green can also drive up project costs, he added.

Estes, however, expects the changes will drop energy usage by almost 40 percent. That translates to shaving up to $30,000 off the utility bill every year.

"So really, even though it costs more it pays back more," Estes said.

In addition to green operations at the dealership, Estes also plans to expand on the sustainability concept by selling wind turbines.

Other operations associated with John Deere are pursuing green building practices, Barry Nelson, a spokesman for the John Deere Agriculture Division in Lenexa, Kan., said.

Dealers act independently, he said, but John Deere, as a company, tries to be a good community citizen and strives to build good facilities for employees.

"And if we can do that with some green technology we will do it," Nelson said.

Contact Karen Heinselman

at (319) 291-1581 or

karen.heinselman@wcfcourier.com.