EASTHAM - Two-and-a-half wooded acres near Boat Meadow Beach would seem to be a prime location for summer accommodations. But Hostelling International USA's 48-bed facility here, which has housed thousands of budget-minded travelers since the 1960s, is in need of serious repair. The sagging centerpiece, a modest one-story clubhouse and kitchen, is painted the same disarming shade of seafoam green as the surrounding bunkhouses. And peering inside the shuttered buildings, it's clear that the hostel doesn't provide much more than a roof over a tired camper's head.

Over the next few years, however, the dilapidated hostel is set to undergo a makeover that will transform it into a model of "green building." The non-profit HI-USA received a $50,000 grant last year from the Kresge Foundation to plan an entirely energy-efficient 7,000 sq. ft. facility and restore the site to its original vegetation.

Alison Alessi and Robert Evans of A&E Architects in Brewster were selected to complete a feasibility study for the project. They're striving to make the facility LEED-certified (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design), a set of national performance standards for green building. Only a handful of other commercial buildings on the Cape are LEED-certified or are in the process of becoming so, including the Provincetown Art Association and Museum and Mass. Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

The green hostel would be the first of its kind on the East Coast, says Deborah Ruhe, executive director of the Eastern New England Council of HI-USA.

"This one is in the worst shape," says Alessi, comparing the Eastham hostel to HI-USA's Truro, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket locations. Cleaning up its ramshackle appearance, however, will be just the beginning of a green overhaul. As Alessi and Evans flip through their feasibility study, it becomes clear that the term "green" encompasses a dizzying array of cutting-edge materials and features, along with progressive building techniques.

The ultimate goal, according to Alessi, is to construct a "net-zero building, producing as much energy as it uses." To that end, the architects hope to install a 10-kilowatt wind turbine to power the planned two-story building, which would include both sleeping quarters and an expanded classroom area for environmental education programs. A layout on an east-west axis, she explains, would maximize the site's potential for natural lighting and passive heating.

But until now, most green hostels have been built in warm, light-flooded tropical locales. "It's a challenge to do it in this kind of climate," Alessi says. "It will definitely work in the summer, but we want it to be comfortable in November, too."

Along with solar thermal panels and radiant flooring to heat all of the facility's water - "it's a very shower-intensive place in high season," Alessi points out - they're also planning for a graywater system that will recycle non-toilet wastewater for use in watering the property's vegetation. That measure, in addition to low-flow fixtures and composting toilets, will "lighten the load" on the property's septic system, Alessi says.

The architects also want to restore the site's natural landscape by taking out invasive species and planting native vegetation, thereby eliminating the need for artificial fertilizers and large-scale irrigation in an area that abuts wetlands. (Brewster-based Wilkinson Ecological Design has been tapped to do the landscape planning.)

But a number of unseen components are also critical to green building, Evans says, such as heat-trapping insulation and alternative lighting fixtures to reduce energy costs, as well as low-toxicity paints and furnishings to improve indoor air quality.

Green building also strives to lessen the impact of construction on the environment. Bamboo, which takes just 10 years to re-grow, is a more ecological flooring material than oak, which takes 100 years, Evans points out. And because construction waste - much of it non-recyclable - accounts for nearly 40-percent of trash in this country, he says, every effort will be made to recycle the demolition and order the minimum quantities of new materials needed.

As Evans picks up a piece of siding made from recycled plastic, which looks uncannily like a wood shingle from a distance, he admits that many of these ecologically minded measures are far more costly than traditional building methods and materials. A&E has projected a $2 million price tag for the construction, the bulk of which will come from fund-raising efforts by HI-USA from public and private donors.

"Price is a factor," Alison acknowledges. "I'm not sure we'll actually get all these [green technologies], but there is some money out there for these things." Some of the pricier features, like the wind turbine, can be added on in future years, she says, if and when federal or state funding becomes available.

And though the site is relatively isolated, accessible only from a narrow dirt path off Goody Hallett Road, another stumbling block may be its location in a dense residential neighborhood, the architects say. They've held some preliminary public hearings with abutters, some of whom are worried about the traffic that would result from a bigger hostel, more than twice its current size (though no additional beds are planned), and an extended season (the goal is to keep it open from spring until November; it's currently open just three months in summer).

"This kind of building doesn't just happen, it's a very collaborative process," Alessi says. Before the drawings are finalized later this year and the permitting process begins, more public charrette sessions will take place, in addition to the completion of a site assessment by a nationally recognized green building specialist.

Still, even at this early stage of the project, Alessi says, the town of Eastham, including Health Agent Jane Crowley and the police and fire departments, all of whom have participated in site visits, has been "very supportive."

Ideally, Alessi adds, the example set by a green hostel here will extend far beyond Eastham's borders. "People who stay at the hostel might take some of the technology [ideas] home with them."

esussman@provincetownbanner.com