Nantucket Official Guide | Page 140

Sustainable Renovation on Nantucket

©Melissa Philbrick

By Melissa Philbrick, Executive Director, ReMain Nantucket

At ReMain Nantucket, our projects
have been devoted to conserving historic
downtown buildings, improving their energy
profile, and enabling environmentally
responsible operations. By encouraging new
entrepreneurs to bring their business ideas
to the downtown and make them come alive
in our buildings, we help support vitality for
both Town and for the whole community.
The buildings at 54 Main Street – home
of Mitchell’s Book Corner – and 56 Centre –
location of the Nantucket Community School
and Nantucket Community Music Center –
have been certified through the U. S. Green
Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (“LEED”) program.
56 Centre received a Gold level LEED
certification, and features these sustainable
practices:
• Waste reduction: Containers to facilitate
recycling are located throughout. Each
floor has a water bottle refilling station to

138 • 2016 Official Guide to Nantucket

reduce the use of “throw-away” plastic and
encourage drinking water instead of soda.
A counter on the refilling stations illustrates
how much each refill eliminates waste.
• Geothermal: The geothermal system
heats and cools the newly-insulated
building. Wells were placed under the lawn,
and groundwater – which has a constant
temperature of 55 degrees – is pumped
through the condensers.
• Rainwater recapture: Rainwater is
collected from the roof and fed into a
holding tank under the driveway; water
is then used to flush toilets and irrigate
landscaping. While water scarcity is not an
acute problem on Nantucket, heightened
awareness of this resource is vitally
important.
• Landscaping: The lawn is planted with
violets, wild strawberries, and clover so it
functions as a drought-tolerant food source
for birds, bees and bugs – all important
to our Island’s biodiversity. The vegetable