Referred to as “America’s first truly green train station,” the Saco Transportation Center opened on February 27, 2009. Owned and built by the City of Saco, the new green facility provides ticketing and waiting areas for the Amtrak Downeaster to Boston and Portland, as well as office space for the Biddeford Saco Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

As part of its green identity, the transportation center features a geothermal system for heating and cooling designed and installed by W.H. Demmons. Utilizing a 1,200 foot deep well, high-efficiency fan-coil units are used to heat and cool the office space. Electricity is provided by a 125 foot windmill just 50 feet from Main Street, which generates the power to run the heat pumps for the geothermal unit, as well as most of the electricity for the building and its parking lots.

The transportation center’s lobby is also heated using radiant heat tubes, embedded in the insulated concrete slab. Radiant heat stratifies at approximately 7 feet above the finish floor, making this an efficient method of heating large volumes of space. Vestibules are provided at all main entries, with automatic sliding doors that have winter and summer settings in order to control the amount of air moving through the entries.

The project is located on a reclaimed brownfield site in Saco’s historic mill district, and the station won the Maine Downtown Center’s 2009 award for Outstanding Smart Growth Project.

 

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