Add as a preferred source on Google

Energy Efficiency for a Living Building

  • 12/01/16
empty classroom

Mitsubishi Electric helped the Willow School to meet the Living Building Challenge by providing energy efficient solutions that met the challenge’s guidelines.

When Mark and Gretchen Biedron co-founded the The Willow School, in Gladstone, N. J., their vision was to create a school that provides students with a space that celebrates learning and collaboration, and that fosters ethical relationships between people and the natural systems that support them. Sustainability drives both the curriculum and building design for Willow, so when the school was designing its fourth building — the Health, Wellness and Nutrition Center — the project team selected a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) zoning system from Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating (Mitsubishi Electric).

Willow has a proud history of green building. In 2002, it built the first LEED Gold certified school building in the United States and, in 2007, the first LEED Platinum certified school in New Jersey. Ever the pioneers, Biedron and his team wanted to up the ante for the new Center. With this project, we were focused on taking the Living Building Challenge (LBC).

Each decision the project team made took careful consideration. Vin Farese, principal at Loring Consulting Engineers (project engineers) says, “Every load was tracked and analyzed. Every amp and watt was accounted for. Nothing was missed” while following the rigid LBC guidelines.

Biedron says, “To be Living Building certified, we had to make sure that we were getting our products from within a certain distance, but Mitsubishi [Electric] products just weren’t within that limit. However, Mitsubishi [Electric] quickly provided us with all of the documentation we needed to be able to get an exception to this rule. We proved that their products would be so energy-efficient over their lifetime that the one-time transportation expense would deliver a system that would ultimately save on cost and energy year after year after year.”

www.mitsubishielectric.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • California High School Starts Construction on STEAM, Music Buildings

    Tamalpais High School, part of the Tamalpais Union High School District, recently broke ground on two new major facilities for its campus in Mill Valley, Calif., according to a news release. The district is partnering with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) and Lathrop Construction Associates for the Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) and Music Buildings, both replacing their outdated counterparts.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.

  • Texas K–12 District to Build New Elementary, High Schools

    The High Island Independent School District on the Bolivar Peninsula in Southeast Texas recently announced that construction on a new elementary school and a new high school will begin in January 2026, according to local news. Funding will come from a $27.9-million bond passed in May 2025.

  • New eBook Shares Guidelines on Building CTE Centers

    Career and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum and resources provider iCEV recently announced the publication of a new eBook sharing guidance and insights on building new CTE facilities, according to a news release.

Digital Edition