Saranac Project an environmental showstopper

The faded advertising sign atop the nearly 100-year-old building still reads “Hotel Saranac,” but the solar panels are a dead giveaway something has changed.

The Saranac will house almost 20 community and nonprofit organizations, once it’s full.

And it’ll be one of the greenest buildings in the state, having achieved LEED platinum certification. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating is awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council and platinum is the highest level.

Every imaginable environmentally friendly construction technique has been used:The rooftop garden features indigenous plants and innovative rainwater collection systems, as well as solar panels.

“It’s so very efficient to have a rooftop garden,” said Jim Sheehan. “It helps keep the building cold in the summer and it insulates in the winter. These roofs should be a requirement.”

Indoors, there’s not as much as a whiff of that new-building smell of paint, glues and carpet.

“We have used absolutely no toxic stuff inside the building,” Sheehan said. “The paint is non-toxic, the glues are not toxic, everything is safe.”

Office walls are insulated with a waste product from denim makers like Wrangler and Levi Strauss.

“That stuff is amazing,” Sheehan said. “You can just cut it and handle it with your bare hands.”

Every room has a climate control to cut down on heating and cooling costs.

Dual-flush commodes in all the bathrooms let you “select how much water you need after you’ve done your business,” he said. “No need to flush eight gallons every time if it’s not needed.”

Tiles, woodwork, linoleum and outdoor siding are made from recycled materials.

Six huge plastic tanks in the basement are the heart of the building’s gray-water system. They hold rainwater and runoff, which is used for toilets and irrigation.

“If everyone in downtown would captivate water like we do and use it, it would cleanse the system,” Sheehan said, explaining that runoff from paved areas doesn’t get filtered through soil before it runs into the river via storm drains.

“It’s a big source of pollution for the river and the aquifer,” he said.

The Saranac Project is located at 25 W. Main Ave. and is home to The Magic Lantern movie theater and Isabella’s Restaurant and Gin Joint.

For more information on the LEED certification process go to: www.usgbc.org