BY SADA REED

Staff Writer

Walls covered in sunflower seed shells? Stools made of seat belts?

It looks a lot better -- and serves more long-term purposes -- than you may think.

The University of Maine at Farmington's Education Center, 186 High St., is a wonder to the "green" world, boasting energy and eco-friendly features that landed the building on top of Maine's short list of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) registered buildings.

As a way of showcasing energy-efficient building systems, the Education Center opened its doors to the general public, offering free pre-scheduled tours as part of an initiative to highlight the central role education plays in furthering the green building movement.

"We're so excited to share this wonderful resource with the public," said Grace Eason, UMF associate professor of science and science education. "In a year when energy costs are everyone's concern, green buildings can show us some practical ways to use less energy while protecting our environment."

The $8.8 million building, completed in 2006, is covered in an hour-long tour given by either UMF junior Stephanie Bossie of Winslow or Pamela Davis Green of Wayne. The tour begins in the lobby -- a roomy entrance with walls, floors, couches, chairs and tables that look ordinary at first glance, but are actually anything but common.

Porcelain tiles, which do not hold bacteria and dirt the way most tiling does, covers the lobby's floor. They require only water for cleaning -- a chemical-less feature that makes the tiling eco-friendly and long-lasting, Bossie said during a tour Nov. 10.

A grid system holding together ceiling tiles is made of recycled aluminum. The lobby's walls are covered with a decorative paneling called Dakota Burl, which is made of crushed sunflower seed shells held together with pine resin. Naturally or stained with conventional wood stains, Dakota Burl looks much like traditional textured wood.

Lights bulbs throughout the building are compact florescent lights and tabletops and hallway floors are covered in marmoleum, a natural linoleum that is also cleaned with just water. The stools in the lobby are covered with seat belts pulled taunt and woven into a wicker basket pattern.

The bathrooms boast an array of low water-use features. The classrooms are covered with carpet tiles made of scraps -- parts of mainstream carpets that would have been thrown away during manufacturing, but instead were woven to make complete, multicolored tiles.

One of the more colorful features of the Education Center, though, is in its basement.

Everyone's Resource Depot, headed by Mary Ryan, is a store packed with castoffs from Maine industries and people that are then sold to the public and students at low costs. The store is lined with bins full of paper, envelopes, Plexiglas, fabric, leather, plastic tubs, shoe laces, cardboard tubes, buttons, yarn, colorful plastic shapes, foam, telephone wire and anything else needed for a student project.

The tour concludes with an explanation of the building's geothermal system and a peek at the building's exterior, under which 41 wells, as part of the geothermal system, are buried and a granite slab wall protects the near-by creek from runoff.

Together, the green elements made the Education Center a costly endeavor upfront, Bossie said. But it has been worth it, she said. The building's geothermal heating and cooling system is proven to save 70 percent in annual energy costs compared to a structure of similar size built with traditional building methods in the 1970s.

"It was a huge investment," Bossie said. "But it's paying off."

The tours are available during the academic year and my be scheduled by visiting umfedctr.wikispaces.com.