GREENSBURG, Kansas (CNN) -- There are still piles of bricks and rubble on countless streets in Greensburg, Kansas, a year after a tornado demolished more than 90 percent of the town.



On May 4, 2007, a ferocious twister blasted Greensburg, Kansas, killing 11 people in the town of 1,400.



Yet what is happening in the city's rebuilding process may not only re-invent Greensburg but provide a model for "green" building everywhere.



Just a week after the deadly tornado hit May 4, 2007, a similar idea sparked in the mayor, a representative from the governor's office and a nonprofit expert from a nearby town.



The concept: If the whole town had to be rebuilt anyway, why not be bold and build it as a global example of conservation, energy efficiency and creativity?



Daniel Wallach, the nonprofit specialist, soon got the green light to help residents and businesses start over in a project known as Greensburg GreenTown.



"Kansas is known for being very conservative," Wallach said.  Watch how the town went green »



"My first order of business was to listen. What I heard were a lot of concerns about politicization and being associated with 'tree huggers.' I helped frame it with the people here in such a way they saw, this is their movement," he said.



Fifth-generation Greensburg resident Anita Hohl joined the staff of Greensburg GreenTown as a Web specialist.



"I was pretty green to begin with. I used to get teased about being a tree hugger. Now it's 'the thing!' This has really brought us so much closer together. What you can accomplish when just a few people are working toward the same goal is amazing," she said.



Her farming grandparents instilled the virtue of being energy-efficient.



"My grandma always put her clothes on the line, did her own gardening and re-used everything," Hohl said.



Hohl and her husband, a daughter, a son, four cats, a dog and two birds are among the Greensburg residents in "FEMAville," a cluster of mobile homes set up as temporary housing. The family hopes to break ground soon for their new house and move in by Thanksgiving. Although they have made the best of the cramped quarters, she says, there are some challenges.



"It sort of feels like living in a cheap motel! But it's a lot better than it could be. It's nice to have a place to be," she said.



From the start, the GreenTown staff knew that getting the business community on board with the green plan was vital.



And in rural America, there is no business that's more of a bedrock than the John Deere dealership.



In Greensburg, that dealership has been in the Estes family for four generations. Their facility was wiped out by the twister.



"The building was a total loss. And we saved only 13 pieces of machinery out of 220 on the lot," Kelly Estes said.



"The FEMA guy said he had never seen anything like it. Steel twisted into brick, and then the miles per hour needed to pick up combines that weigh 25,000 pounds and move them half a mile in the air," he said.



Kelly and his brother Mike decided to rebuild in town to the highest green-building standard.



The U.S. Green Building Council establishes a rating system for efficient buildings called LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The Greensburg facility is aiming for LEED platinum, the most demanding standard.



There is one wind turbine on their new property, a 100-foot structure designed to generate 5 kilowatts of electricity. It is providing power for the construction site.



Although "green" may be viewed as trendy and new by some, Mike Estes knows that it is not for show.



"We're looking at saving money here; truthfully, we are. We're running a business. If we can't make this make sense, why would we do it?" he asked.
What town rebuilds "green" after a tornado demolished 90 percent of the town? What percent of the town was demolished? When did Greensburg decide to go green?
Greensburg more than 90 Just a week after the deadly tornado hit May 4, 2007,
question: What town rebuilds "green" after a tornado demolished 90 percent of the town?, answer: Greensburg | question: What percent of the town was demolished?, answer: more than 90 | question: When did Greensburg decide to go green?, answer: Just a week after the deadly tornado hit May 4, 2007,