Johnson & Wales University's Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence Transforming Culinary Education with LEED Gold Certification

PROVIDENCE, RI – April 6, 2011 – Johnson & Wales University (JWU) has been awarded LEED® gold certification established by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) for its Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence.

One of the newest and most prominent facilities on the Harborside Campus of the university's expansive Providence Campus, the 82,000 square feet Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence (CCCE) features a state-of-the-art environment specifically designed to accommodate the university's advanced culinary curriculum.

Designed by Tsoi/Kobus & Associates of Cambridge, Mass., the $42 million facility achieved LEED certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use as well as incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies.

"The Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence symbolizes the high standards we demand in our College of Culinary Arts," John J. Bowen '77, the university's chancellor says. "By design, we have constructed an environment for our students to experience the academic background, professional rigor, management and leadership skills needed to be competitive in a global economy. Our talented, experienced faculty educate our students in a manner that respects the continuum of the culinary experience from farm to plate, while exposing them to the finest state of the art equipment. Each day in our Cuisinart Center creativity, science and hard work converge to turn our students' aspirations into realities in a manner that respects the environment and celebrates the diversity of our global profession demands."

A striking four-level structure with a transparent bank of floor-to-ceiling windows that provides direct views of the internal goings-on of one of the largest culinary schools in the world, the Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence combines a sustainable design with hurricane-proof resistance, braced by columns that rest above 100 pilings sunk 110 feet below ground.

With an initial class of 100 students in 1973 and limited facilities contained in a repurposed WWII-era building in Providence, the College of Culinary Arts at JWU is recognized for its preeminent programs that remain relevant to the food service industry, health and wellness issues, and the art of the changing international food scene.

The university's commitment to urban revitalization has become its signature within each of the regions where it maintains a campus. In Providence, the university has spent five-million-dollars, $600,000 of which was awarded by the US Environmental Protection Agency in Brownfield and clean-up grants from the money to develop its Harborside Campus, a former industrial property.

The campus' location along the Narragansett Bay offers some of the state's greatest vistas, and includes the recently completed two-acre Urban Coastal Greenway project, a part of a larger 6.5 acre remediation of this area.

"With each new LEED-certified building, we get one step closer to USGBC's vision of a sustainable built environment within a generation, Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair, USGBC notes."As the newest member of the LEED family of green building, the Cuisinart Center is an important addition to the growing strength of the green building movement."

JWU's newest pioneering joint bachelor’s program between the College of Culinary Arts and The Hospitality College is housed in the Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence. This degree combines culinary arts and baking and pastry arts with food service management, preparing students for the multiple demands arising in the industry today.

About Tsoi/Kobus & Associates: Tsoi/Kobus & Associates was founded in 1983 and has since grown to become one of the nation’s leading architecture, planning, and interior design firms for college and university, healthcare, science and technology, and commercial real estate projects. The firm’s award-winning designs are rooted in solutions that advance clients’ strategic goals and missions, and that combine cutting-edge technology with compassion and creativity. TK&A has been recognized by Architectural Record magazine as one of the country’s “Best Managed Firms,” by Engineering News-Record as one of the top 500 design firms, and by Architecture magazine as one of the “Top 50 Global Giants.” US Green Building Council (USGBC). The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. With a community comprising 80 local affiliates, more than 18,000 member companies and organizations, and more than 155,000 LEED Professional Credential holders, USGBC is the driving force of an industry that is projected to contribute $554 billion to the US gross domestic product from 2009-13. USGBC leads an unlikely diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, elected officials and concerned citizens, and teachers and students. Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39% of CO2 emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% water consumption and 15% of GDP per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity. Greater building efficiency can meet 85% of future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million American jobs. LEED The USGBC's LEED green building certification system is the foremost program for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. More than 32,000 projects are currently participating in the commercial and institutional LEED rating systems, comprising more than 9.6 billion square feet of construction space in all 50 states and 114 countries. By using less energy, LEED-certified buildings save money for families, businesses and taxpayers; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and contribute to a healthier environment for residents, workers and the larger community. USGBC was co-founded by current President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi, who spent 25 years as a Fortune 500 executive. Under his 15-year leadership, the organization has become the preeminent green building, membership, policy, standards, influential, education and research organization in the nation.