Cullen Center certified LEED Silver

The Marion Buckelew Cullen Center at the Westminster Choir College of Rider University has been certified Silver by The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

LEED, which was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. Building projects earn points for satisfying specific green-building criteria in five LEED credit categories, including sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality. An additional category, innovation in design, addresses sustainable building expertise and additional design measures. The number of points the project earns determines the level of LEED certification the project receives.

The LEED Silver certification for The Cullen Center is the latest success in Rider’s commitment to being a leader in sustainability among colleges and universities. In 2015, Rider was named one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the United States and Canada for the sixth straight year by The Princeton Review. Rider is also listed as one of the 353 most environmentally responsible colleges, according to The Princeton Review Guide to 353 Green Colleges.

"As Rider University continues its commitment toward its goal of being carbon neutral by the year 2050, one focus has been on its infrastructure," says Melissa Greenberg, sustainability manager at Rider. "The Cullen Center has become the third LEED certified building following the Lawrenceville campus LEED Gold North Hall academic building and LEED Silver West Village residence hall."

Rider pledged to meet the USGBC’s LEED standards when President Mordechai Rozanski signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment in 2007, directing that all further new campus construction would be LEED certified.

The Cullen Center, which opened in the fall of 2014, honors the philanthropist who made a $5 million bequest to Westminster Choir College. The new building contains a 3,000-square-foot performance and rehearsal hall, which will be named the Hillman Performance Hall, in recognition of the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, which provided a $3 million grant to support the project. It was designed by KSS of Princeton, which coordinated the building's appearance with the Georgian style of the four original buildings surrounding the Morgan Quadrangle. Funds from the State of New Jersey's “Building Our Future” bond program were central to the completion of the $8.5 million project, as well as pledges, gifts and grants from various sources.