Minden's Bently distillery first in nation to achieve LEED Gold status

MINDEN, Nev. — On Tuesday, the Bently Heritage Estate Distillery in Minden became the first estate distillery in the nation to complete the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold Certification process.

Owned by Christopher and Camille Bently, the business takes another step in preserving the future while celebrating the past, as the campus's two main buildings, the creamery and the mill, are now both certified LEED Gold.

“The Bentlys are avid environmentalists and proud to lead another project that aligns with their exemplary green operating practices,” a spokesman for the company said earlier this week. “Bently Heritage's Mill and Creamery buildings, each over a century old, are some of Minden's oldest structures, and they're the heart and soul of this small agricultural town.”

In addition to being LEED-certified, both the Mill and Creamery sit on the National Register of Historic Places.

“As an estate distillery, Bently Heritage wanted to safeguard the buildings' histories while creating an experience rooted in place, process, and preservation,” according to the company “The word ‘preservation' isn't just about sustaining a building's existing form; it's about protecting the structure for future generations.”

The Bently Heritage team spent five years focusing on repair rather than replacement, as well as on maintenance rather than remaking. Carson City-based Miles Construction was the lead contractor on the renovation.

“While simple sounding, it means that some structural pieces of the building had to be removed or rebuilt to fully update mechanical, electrical, support, and plumbing systems,” according to the company. “Bently Heritage even had to remove the original roof and then put it back on, piece by piece. Other original materials that were preserved or reused included bricks, timber, railroad ties, rail line, steel elements of the silos, and roof trusses.

"The construction waste management plan diverted or recycled 64 percent of construction waste, reducing the need to place usable materials in landfills.”

The distillery opened in February 2019.