Profitable with a conscience

The old Linn Litho print shop, a vacant and unassuming cinderblock structure at 445 California Ave.

in Reno, is poised to become a showplace of energy-efficient construction.

One of the last redevelopment opportunities remaining on California Avenue near Arlington Avenue, the project is being undertaken by Dario Passalalpi, under the company name, 445 LLC.

The restaurant and lounge named Earth won't open for a year.

The timeline: eight weeks to complete the permitting process, with another eight months or more for construction.

"We'd like to open for summer, but rather than rush it, we want it right," says Passalalpi."It's about doing something that can help lift the whole area up."

The recycling process starts with the old building itself.

It will use reclaimed materials in construction, such as redwood rescued from a pier demolished in San Francisco as siding.

The impetus, says Passalalpi, is simply a desire to be environmentally sensitive "To be both profitable and socially conscious and do what's exciting to us." The 3,000-square-foot main floor will be topped by a roof-top garden deck for outdoor dining.

Sharing the space with tables will be solar panels to heat water, windmills to generate power and a sod roof to collect rainwater for landscaping.

The menu will feature international foods, such as tapas, in small portions ordered among friends who then try them all.

He plans to feature fresh foods, organically and locally grown.

Talks are in progress with a chef from San Francisco.

The philosophy behind his passion for incorporating sustainable building techniques? Simply being a human being, and having children; wanting them to inherit a world worth having, says Passalalpi.

Guylene Dwinell and others are partners in the restaurant.

Jack Hawkins of Hawkins and Associates Architecture is the designer, with Baron Hershberger, architectural designer, on the remodeling team.

Passalalpi has also been building homes for 28 years at Tahoe and Truckee through his firm, DMP Contractors.