The Ecology School in Maine is currently building a residential environmental learning center in Saco. The school educates adults and children about the environment and the impact of the population on the planet and currently works out of summer camps, which it rents.
President and CEO of The Ecology School, Drew Dumsch, expressed his excitement about the ability to now have a permanent location where sustainability, conservation, farming, and programming can be offered throughout the year. Brochure printing is often used to draw attention to such special projects.
The new center will be at the River Bend Farm along the Saco River, on 105 acres of open fields and forest land. There will be two buildings – one will be the Poland Spring Education and Dining Commons, spanning 7,000 square feet, which will have a root cellar and commercial kitchen. The other building will be a dormitory, 9,000 square feet in size, which will be able to accommodate 140 people. The buildings will use over 200,000 feet of local Maine White Pine and will be the greenest buildings in New England.
Dumsch added that there will be 718 solar-powered panels on-site, which will power the buildings and create more electricity than will be used on the site, therefore creating clean energy for the community. The farm will also grow all the produce to be used at the center.
