COOL CAREERS COOL COOL CAREERS CAREERS TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREENSBURG 4 CHAPTER TWO WHAT A GREEN GENERAL CONTRACTOR DOES 10 R R R R R R R O O O O O O O T T T T T T T C C C C C C C A A A A A A A R R R R R R R T T T T T T T N N N N N N N O O O O O O O C C C C C C C L L L L A A A A R R R R E E E E N N N N E E E E G G G G N N N E E E E E E R R R G G G CHAPTER THREE HOW DOES A CONTRACTOR GO GREEN 16 CHAPTER FOUR A GREEN FUTURE 22 SOME WELL-KNOWN GREEN CONSTRUCTION ORGANIZATIONS 29 GLOSSARY 30 FOR MORE INFORMATION 31 INDEX 32 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 32
COOL CAREERS GREEN GENERAL CONTRACTOR Y R A R B I L S L L I K S Y R U T N E C T S 1 2 CHAPTER ONE IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREENSBURG On May 4 2007 a tornado swept through Greensburg Kansas destroying 90 percent of the town’s Greensburg residents Greensburg residents Greensburg opportunity to damage as an opportunity to opportunity used the tornado’s used the used improve the town
buildings Roofs were torn from homes Fierce winds ripped trees out of the ground and threw them through walls Bricks and other rubble dotted the streets This tornado is one of the strongest on record It left 1,400 people homeless Greensburg lay in ruin The community decided to rebuild in a new way It would turn Greensburg into a green town There are many reasons to be interested in green build ings According to the United States Green Building Council USGBC buildings use 40 percent of the country’s energy They also use 13 percent of the country’s water Green build ings reduce energy consumption and water use This saves natural resources Greensburg’s citizens wanted their town to become the greenest in America They hired a green architectural firm to design a master plan The townspeople wanted to rebuild quickly but knew it was worth taking time to go green Greensburg hired green contractors to manage the building process The town’s plans called for LEED gold certified buildings LEED which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is the USGBC’s set of standards for building quality green homes and public facilities LEED-certified buildings use less energy and less water They are built with sustainable and recycled materials whenever possible
