North Plainfield, NJ — When it comes to eco-friendly, it often seems like the grass is always greener somewhere else. However at the newly opened Birdsall Bath Design showroom, you don’t have to go anywhere else to find the latest in eco-friendly products and design. And it’s not just the grass that’s greener – it’s the whole building.

Working toward becoming the first LEED-certified bath showroom in the country, Birdsall Bath Design director Patricia Whelan has been building her green dream for several years now, and expects to hear good news about the firm’s certification application any day.

“We are proud to be industry leaders in the environmental movement, and to offer expertise on greening the bath, without sacrificing design and function,” she notes.

But while her firm’s environ-mental efforts are impressive, the showroom is far more than just another pretty green face. Designed by renowned kitchen and bath designer Ellen Cheever, ASID, CMKBD, CAPS, the 6,500-sq.-ft. luxury bath showroom features more than 70 working displays, a state-of-the-art audio visual system, a wide array of products and an event-driven platform that focuses on educating consumers and the design community at large.

Green LEED-ER

According to Whelan, the showroom’s green footprint begins with the building itself, which is part of the USGBC’s LEED for Commercial Interiors-Retail Pilot Project. Additionally, the firm is a member of the USGBC, and at press time, was expecting to be certified within the month, which would make it the first LEED-certified bath showroom in the country, according to Whelan.

Not surprisingly, the showroom is replete with eco-friendly products, which are prominently labeled as such. Major product lines include TOTO, Duravit, Bain Ultra, Hansgrohe, Gessi, Dornbracht, KWC, Samuel Heath, Santec, ThermaSol, Villeroy & Boch, Vanity Flair, Sonia, Waterfall, Lacava, WoodPro, Baci, Elkay, Julien, Stone Forest and Vitraform.

Even the public restroom tells a green story, with a dual-flush toilet, bamboo countertop, programmable radiant heat/towel warmer, recycled glass tile, no-VOC wall covering and metered faucet, Whelan notes.

The lighting scheme – designed by Stephen Lohm, LC, IES, LEED-AP of ILA Lighting – was also planned to maximize energy savings, with incandescent lamps, a curvable Magellan low-voltage rail and carefully selected beam spreads for the lamps in the Gyro fixture, which eliminate the need for additional ambient lighting. The lighting design garnered Con-Tech Lighting’s 2009 Retail Lighting Award.