Oct. 8, 2008

Cooley Hosts Tour Of Construction Progess At Auburn Hills Campus

Assistant Dean Joan Vestrand, Associate Dean John Nussbaumer, and Campus Director Audra Foster	The roof at Auburn Hills is designed to be environmentally friendly.

A hard-hat tour of the Cooley Law School's Auburn Hills, Mich., campus construction was held October 8, 2008.

Construction of the 67,000-square-foot addition is well under way — the exterior component of the addition is mostly complete, and work has begun on the trial and appellate courtrooms inside.

A green sedum roof is being installed on the addition, and Cooley is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for the facility.

Construction began in January 2008 and the building is scheduled to be open in January 2009. The addition, which will almost double the size of the Auburn Hills campus, will house:

*Five large classrooms, including a combination classroom/appellate courtroom, distance education classrooms and a computer laboratory. Cooley will invite the Michigan Court of Appeals to hold court sessions in the appellate courtroom. The distance education classrooms are capable of connecting to Cooley campuses in Lansing and Grand Rapids, in addition to non-Cooley locations through video-conferencing.

*A fully functional trial courtroom. Cooley already has commitments from a federal judge and a state judge to hold live court sessions on campus.

*Several smaller classrooms.

*An office suite for the Family Law and Domestic Violence Clinic and the Senior Estate Planning Clinic

*The Academic Resource Cente

The renovation will increase the Auburn Hills campus enrollment capacity from 700 to more than 1,000 students. In 2002, when Cooley first began holding law classes in southeast Michigan at nearby Oakland University, 28 students were enrolled.

In the completed Auburn Hills building, there will be 8,200 square feet of open study area. As with all Cooley campus buildings, there will be wireless Internet access.

The building was designed to be environmentally friendly and is expected to achieve LEED certification after completion. The addition has sedum and white reflective roofing and will use various technology and materials designed to reduce energy usage and harmful emissions.

LEED-accredited professionals from SHW Group Architects-Engineers (Berkley, Michigan) designed the project to ensure that the project took advantage of sustainable design opportunities. Specific examples of actions considered to be environmentally friendly include:

*Installation of a vegetated (sedum) and white reflective roof. Both surfaces provide numerous environmental and economic benefits.

*Use of drywall made from 98 percent synthetic gypsum created as a byproduct of power plants and 2 percent recycled paper.

*Use of a computer-controlled heating and cooling system that automatically reduces power usage when the buildings are not in use and maximizes the use of outdoor air.

*Preservation of the natural landscaping by limiting construction activities and restoring up to 50 percent of the disturbed site to native plant landscaping. The use of native and drought tolerant plants also minimizes the water needed for maintenance.

*Installation of low-flow toilets and waterless urinals to conserve fresh water.

*Preservation and use of natural lighting in addition to the installation of low-wattage lighting fixtures and room sensors to automatically turn of lights in unused rooms.

*Use of paints, sealants, carpets and wood materials with low amounts of volatile organic compounds to minimize the amount of toxic fumes emitted from these products into the interior.

*Construction of an on-site recycling center to further reduce landfill waste.

*Recycling of almost 1,400 tons of construction waste.

*Purchasing 54 percent of materials from local sources within 500 miles.

The completed building also reflects the diverse cultural needs of Cooley’s students; Muslim footbaths will be located in two of the eight restrooms in the addition. Muslims, according to their faith, must clean their feet prior to praying five times a day.

Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the country.  Founded in 1972, it operates J.D. programs across Michigan in downtown Lansing, Auburn Hills and downtown Grand Rapids. Today, Cooley Law School has more than 12,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide and also offers joint degree and master of laws programs. Cooley offers enrollment three times a year; in January, May and September.  Additional information about Cooley can be found at www.cooley.edu.