The Culinary Arts Center (CAC) at Burlington County College (BCC) has achieved a Silver Certification of its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), making the CAC the first LEED-certified higher education building that incorporates a historic building in New Jersey.

The LEED certification system is the recognized standard for measuring whole-building sustainability, commonly known as green building. Developed and administered by the USGBC, a nonprofit coalition of building industry leaders, the LEED system was developed to promote design and construction practices that increase profitability, reduce the negative environmental impacts of buildings and improve occupant health and well-being.

The construction project comprised the restoration and adaptive reuse of the former Farmers Trust Building, which is recognized on both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places, as well as the demolition of two adjacent non-historic buildings and the construction of a new two-story structure that connects the historic building to the existing BCC Mount Holly Center. BCC contracted with Spiezel Architectural Group, Inc., to set sustain ability goals, incorporate LEED specifications into the designs and help with the selection of appropriate products and systems, such as photovoltaic panels, water-saving plumbing fixtures, recycled and regionally produced, low-emitting finish materials, such as carpet and paint.

Location: 21 Mill St., Mt. Holly.