By Jim Walsh • Courier-Post Staff • September 1, 2010

CHERRY HILL — Camden County has begun building a $3.2 million structure here with a "green design" that's expected to start a trend.

"This will be a model for county construction for years to come," Freeholder Jeffrey Nash predicted Tuesday of the 4,500-square-foot addition rising next to the county's Parks Department headquarters.

Among other eco-friendly features, the building on North Park Boulevard will have a plant-covered roof, a solar water heater and a system to flush toilets with rainwater.

The addition is designed to be "substantially self-sustaining," said Nash, who noted multiple measures intended to reduce the use of energy and natural resources.

The roof is to be covered with a "low-maintenance" plant called sedun that's expected to absorb up to 75 percent of falling rain. It also will be cooler in the summer and will last three times longer than a conventional roof, according to a county fact sheet.

Water that does run off the roof will go to a rain garden. Storm runoff also will feed a cistern, or tank, that can hold more than 1,000 gallons. The tank's "gray water" will be used for landscape watering and to flush toilets in the addition and the existing 18,000-square-foot headquarters.

Among other green measures, construction workers are expected to recycle material "to minimize the waste stream by as much as 70 percent," the county says.

Officials also note just over half of the project's cost, or $1.7 million, will be covered by federal stimulus funds and a Green Acres grant.

The addition, to be completed by mid-2011, will house the county's environmental educator and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension program, which includes 4-H and Master Gardener organizations.

The environmental educator has lacked a permanent home -- and the ability to host indoor classes -- since a former facility in Berlin Borough was razed due to structural problems several years ago.

The Extension program currently occupies a Clementon building that has been put up for sale, said Caren Fishman, the county's parks director.

"This will allow us to consolidate space and operate more efficiently," said Joyce Gabriel, a county spokeswoman.

Fishman also said the Clementon building, while a long-time home to the Extension programs, is too large and needs extensive renovations.

But Sharon Kinsey, who oversees 4-H activities in the county, noted that most of her organization's clubs "are in the southern part of the county."

"That presents a challenge," she said of a future move to Cherry Hill.