SUSTAINABLE SUPPORT
One of the first public structures to rise above the gaunt landscape of tornado-beaten Greensburg was the 5.4.7 Arts Center. The gleaming green glass and wood building was designed and built by KU architecture students to meet the highest standards for energy sustainability.
The center in return helps sustain the community’s spirit by providing space for cultural and civic events – and it has benefited public health.When KU pharmacy students learned Greensburg’s drugstore also was lost in the tornado, putting Kiowa County among the six in Kansas with no community pharmacy, they went to work raising funds for flu inoculations.
“Our students raised nearly $4,000 to purchase vaccine,” said pharmacy professor Robert Emerson,“and were able to administer free influenza vaccinations to 200 residents of Greensburg.”
For the full story, including additional photos and video, visit www.features.ku.edu/greensburg
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A team of 19 student pharmacists (top), supported by KU faculty members, inoculated about 200 Greensburg residents against influenza at the 5.4.7.Arts Center in October.The students organized several fundraisers to buy the vaccine.The arts center features wind turbines (above) to create electricity.
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Flatbed trucks (left) transported prefabricated modules for a new arts center from the Studio 804 workshop in Lawrence
to Greensburg in March 2008.The modules were lowered onto the prepared foundation (center), and architecture professor
Dan Rockhill (right) and his students completed construction.The 5.4.7.Arts Center (below) features recycled
wood, solar panels, geothermal heating, and other sustainable systems. It was awarded the U.S. Green Building Council’s
LEED Platinum certification, the first Kansas structure to meet its rigorous standard for environmental sustainability.
