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DARROW SCHOOL CHOSEN FOR SIXTH GREEN BUILDINGS OPEN HOUSE TOUR
PRESS RELEASE
On Saturday, October 3, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.,
Darrow School, an independent college-preparatory school in New Lebanon,
New York, will again be featured in the Green Buildings Open House. The
open house is part of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s
National Solar Tour, the largest sustainable energy event in the
Northeast, and offers up-close looks at homes and other buildings that
make use of clean, renewable energy and green building technologies. The tour is free and open to the public.
Darrow’s cutting-edge Samson Environmental Center (SEC), which houses the
Living Machine, an innovative wastewater treatment facility that uses a
natural ecosystem to clean wastewater from campus dorms and buildings
before returning it to the Hudson River watershed, has been included on
the Green Buildings tour for the past six years. The SEC meets or exceeds
all of the Green Buildings criteria, including reduction of the School’s
ecological footprint, conservation of water, and reduction of embedded
energy. Students and faculty will be present to conduct tours of Darrow’s
SEC and give firsthand insight into the maintenance of the Living Machine.
The Samson Environmental Center, built in 1998, is the destination for
nearly 500 visitors annually from schools, civic and municipal
organizations, urban planning firms, and the general public. This building
features many “green” design elements, including the photovoltaic panels,
which convert sunlight directly into electricity without creating
pollution; radiant-heat flooring; recovered timber from the bottom of the
St. Lawrence River; passive solar heating and lighting;
temperature-activated ventilation; and highly efficient insulation.
Darrow’s curriculum emphasizes environmental sustainability and
stewardship, and the School has been recognized nationally and
internationally as a pioneer in integrating these topics into a
college-preparatory curriculum.
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Darrow's Samson Environmental Center
During the Green Buildings Open House, Darrow students lead educational tours of the Living Machine. |
In February 2005, Darrow School was
awarded a Leading Edge Honoree designation in the area of curriculum
innovation for its sustainability program by the National Association of
Independent Schools (NAIS). NAIS also selected Darrow School for the site
of its first Insitute for Leadership in Sustainability in 2004. Darrow
teachers have been invited to deliver presentations and conduct workshops
on integrating sustainability throughout the curriculum at national
conventions, and the School’s program has been featured in several
publications. In 2008, Darrow School hosted its first Sustainability
Symposium, which brought together leaders in the green movement from
around the local region. A second symposium is planned for April 2009.
Darrow School, located at the historic Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village on the
New York–Massachusetts state line, is an independent, co-educational
boarding and day school for grades 9 through 12. Visitors can contact the
Samson Environmental Center directly at 518-794-6011, or e-mail the
center’s director, Craig Westcott, at westcottc@darrowschool.org. Go to www.darrowschool.org for more information on the Samson Environmental
Center and Darrow’s other unique features and programs.
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