Cooley Law School expands campus with green addition in Auburn Hills

People like to complain that all some attorneys see is green, but no one is complaining about all the green building that Thomas M. Cooley Law School's students will see at the school's new Auburn campus.

The law school has broken ground on a 62,000-square-foot addition that will practically double the size of its existing building on the law school’s new Auburn Hills campus that is currently being renovated. The project is seeking certification by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (or LEED) green building rating system.

Among the green credentials that will be tacked onto the building are reusing an existing 65,300-square-foot structure, a 20,000 square foot green roof, using recycled materials such as carpet in the building and installing energy-efficient lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

The existing building is set to welcome its first students in January and the new addition will be ready by January 2009. The law school's new 67-acre Auburn Hills campus, 2630 Featherstone Road, will replace the school’s current location on the campus of Oakland University.

About 600 students attend Cooley Law School's Oakland County campus. Enrollment there is projected to increase to approximately 650 students next year before reaching 750 students by January 2009. More than 3,600 students attend the law school, founded in 1972, at its three locations in Lansing, Grand Rapids and Oakland County.

Source: Nick Wasmiller, spokesman for Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Writer: Jon Zemke

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