Willow School Promotes Sustainable Design with Help from Local Dealer

Dancker, Sellew & Douglas, a commercial interiors firm specializing in environmentally responsible approaches to workspace design, recently hosted an open house at The Willow School in Gladstone, NJ to promote the methods and benefits for incorporating sustainable concepts into commercial environments and corporate daily activities.


During the course of the event, Steve Lang, vice president and general manager at DS&D, also awarded a $2,500 donation to The Willow School, which was founded in 2000 to combine academic excellence and the wonders of the natural world for students ranging from kindergarten through the eighth grade. Since then, the independent day school has become a model for sustainable design while earning certification from the United States Green Building Council in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

"We are proud to be working with The Willow School to promote the latest philosophies and applications of sustainable design," said Lang. "Green building is becoming increasingly important to the corporate world for reducing energy costs, conserving resources and sustaining the environment."

"Our goal is to create a model of excellence," added Mark Biedron, co-founder of The Willow School. "We are committed to combining academic excellence and the joy of learning with an environment that promotes the wonder, beauty, pleasure, and richness of nature. This is achieved by dedicating ourselves to the mastery of the English language, science, and the arts in surroundings that fully embrace and preserve the area's natural beauty."

Located on a 34 acre campus, The Willow School is currently comprised of a recently constructed 13,500-square-foot classroom building, an administrative building that was the original farmhouse, and additional classroom facilities based in the site's refurbished barn. At the heart of each building is the use of sustainable materials that range from stones from the barn's original foundation to ceramic tiles, floorboards, and lumber retrieved and recycled from the demise of numerous other corporate structures and buildings. Even infrastructure items such as glue, wiring, and piping were painstakingly researched and selected based on their bio-friendliness and ability to foster the school's sustainable design concept.

As for the grounds themselves, each classroom within The Willow School features numerous skylights and windows specifically positioned to harvest sunlight throughout the day and reduce the dependence on lighting fixtures and electricity at all times. Rainwater is also collected on site and used for numerous activities including within restrooms. Garbage is turned to compost to nurture the school's many natural meadows, butterfly gardens, flowers, and foliage. In addition, high-efficiency gas heating is supplemented by solar panels, while the ground's wetlands are used for the filtration and treatment of wastewater, which then returns clean water to the school's groundwater system.

"The Willow School has already become recognized as one of the top five LEED facilities in the nation," further explains Lang. "It has provided an excellent example in how we all can work together to use our natural resources and create a greener, safer environment for all future generations."