November 18, 2008

Thomas M. Cooley Law School Going Green

Pictured here on the new green roof of Cooley’s Auburn Hills campus are Jim Robb, the school’s General Counsel and Associate Dean for Development and Alumni Relations, and John Nussbaumer, the Associate Dean of the Auburn Hills campus. Photograph by Vaughn Gurganian/Oakland Press.

Thomas M. Cooley Law School will be seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) for its Auburn Hills campus, scheduled for completion in the spring of 2009. Cooley is the first and only law school in the state to make this commitment to environmental sustainability.

Cooley’s 67-acre wooded campus in Auburn Hills at the intersection of M-59 and I-75 includes a newly-renovated 65,000 square foot facility that opened in January 2008, plus a 65,000 square foot addition that will open in stages beginning in January 2009.

With the help of SHW Group Architects and Rockford Construction Company, the school has incorporated many sustainable design concepts, including a “green” vegetated roof surface over much of the addition, a white reflective roof over the renovated facility, recycled building materials, recycling of construction waste, water-efficient landscaping and low-flow plumbing fixtures, extensive natural lighting and lower-wattage light fixtures, room sensors to automatically turn off lights in unused rooms, a computer-controlled heating and cooling system that reduces power usage, low-emission paints and sealants, an on-site recycling center, and use of environmentally-friendly cleaning agents for building maintenance.

In addition, with the assistance of Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, the school will be added to Oakland County’s SMART public transportation system, connecting the school to Oakland University, the school’s exclusive educational partner in Southeast Michigan, and to the City of Pontiac, where many of the clients for the school’s legal services clinics reside.

This is not Cooley’s first foray into environmentally friendly practices. The school’s Lansing campus began school-wide recycling in 2000 and recently installed a white, reflective roof on its Temple Building in downtown Lansing. And the school’s change-over to “green” cleaning compounds started at its Grand Rapids campus.

Michigan State Bar President-Elect Charles Toy, who recently joined Cooley as the school’s new Associate Dean for Career and Professional Development, is the State Bar Board of Commissioners Liaison to and past chairperson of the Environmental Law Section. “Cooley is at the forefront of environmental pro-activeness and proves that an organization can be operationally successful and have a minimal impact on the environment.”

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, in Auburn Hills, and in 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.