The green roof installation began July 22 and was completed July 26 by LiveRoof LLC of Nunica, Mich. Construction on the building itself began in July 2014, and work is slated for completion in September, with classes set to begin in January 2017. The new Biosciences Building marks the largest capital project in the university’s more than 120-year history, and was developed in response to a sharp rise in students pursuing degrees in the biosciences.

The 170,000-square-foot Biosciences Building, which anticipates at least LEED Silver certification, will house a wide variety of science labs; a 112-person capacity active learning classroom; numerous student study, collaboration and meeting spaces; and staff offices, according to a statement by LiveRoof. The Biosciences Building will eventually house 40 research-active faculty members, and the research conducted within the facility will allow the university to grow its reputation as a leader in human and environmental health and research.

“The Biosciences Building interior features abundant daylight, natural wood paneling and other sustainable materials [that] connect this building to its mission and work,” said Steve Lawrence, associate vice president for facilities management at CMU, in a statement. “The LiveRoof green roof and accompanying LiveWall, located inside the building, provide students and staff access to plants, natural views and daylight.”

LiveRoof green roofs are a patented, subterranean modular system that features soil and plants to create a meadow-like aesthetic, according to the company’s website. The installation provides a fully-grown carpet of custom-mix, draught-tolerant sedum plants providing color and function year-round. The green roofs also provide significant environmental benefits, according to the company. They can reduce stormwater runoff by between 50 percent and 90 percent, and can lower interior sound levels by as much as 40 decibels. Further, one square foot of green roof is capable of filtering seven ounces of dust and smog out of the environment per year, according to the company website. Plant photosynthesis also reduces greenhouse gases, and soil and plants provide a protective barrier to buildings, along with a waterproof roof lining, to extend roof life by as much as 200-300 percent.

“Central Michigan University is delivering a preeminent design in the new Biosciences Building,” said LiveRoof LLC Indiana Representative John Aleck in a statement. “This building is designed to support innovative research in bright, breathable laboratories. Providing faculty and students with an open, flexible work-study space will undoubtedly propel these programs to new levels while achieving sustainability stewardship.”

The new Biosciences Building, designed by Stantec Inc., will cost approximately $95 million. The project was supported by a $30 million state allocation as well as by the university’s internal reserves, contributions and proceeds from the issuance of bonds, according to a statement by the university.

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The four-story, 169,000-square-foot CMU Biosciences Building is the largest capital project in the school’s 120-year history. It will provide students and faculty with opportunities for meaningful hands-on research, and will help the school attract top teaching talent.

The building will include standard features such as an auditorium, informal meeting areas and an active learning classroom in an open floor plan designed for adaptability, resource sharing and collaboration. However, as it will house research and instruction on everything from organismal biology to ecology, the facility will also offer more specialized spaces.

Included in the design are a vivarium, which replicates aquatic conditions for research purposes; a molecular biology core; a biosafety level 3 laboratory for infectious disease research; an isotope laboratory, an imaging center for scanning and transmission electron microscopes; an herbarium; and a staging and processing storage areas for ecological fieldwork. These top-level facilities will allow for research on delicate species and pressing environmental issues without disturbing or impacting natural habitats.

Environmental sustainability was also key to the building’s design. Built to achieve LEED Silver certification, the new CMU Biosciences Building will balance safety and energy efficiency. Features like fritted glass will reduce solar heat gain, while a rainwater capture system will feed directly into a series of bio-chambers, supporting ecosystem research and education.

In a speech at the building’s Sept. 15 groundbreaking ceremony, CMU President George E. Ross remarked that the building would dramatically improve the quality and the quantity of structural learning and scientific research on the school’s campus. “It will foster an important contribution to Michigan’s economic goals and emphasize cell and molecular biology, biotechnology and other emerging disciplines, as well as enhancing the strong existing programs in biosciences at CMU,” Foster said.

“We can’t wait for our students to use the active learning spaces in our new teaching labs so they can practice science in their classes,” added Chair of the university’s department of biology, Tracy Galarowicz. “We look forward to seeing our students walk through the doors and see the living wall, the aquarium, the study spaces and know that this is a place…to study biology.”

The new facility is also a response to the university’s growing student body. Undergraduate majors at CMU have increased 210 percent in the last decade alone, while tenure-track faculty have increased more than 70 percent. Additionally, the university has seen external grant funding increase more than tenfold in the same time frame.

The Detroit office of SHW Group, a design, engineering and planning firm that is currently merging with Stantec, is the project’s lead architectural firm. Clark Construction Co. of Lansing will serve as the construction manager. Construction is slated for completion in September 2016, and classes will likely begin in the new facility in January 2017.

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The first two years of the students’ education will occur on the school’s Mount Pleasant campus. The third and fourth years will take place in various medical facilities in Saginaw, including a Central Michigan University campus and education sites associated with Covenant HealthCare and St. Mary’s of Michigan.

Of the 64 students, 37, 57 are from Michigan and 11 are graduates of Central Michigan’s undergraduate program. These students were selected from a competitive pool of 2,700 applicants for the 2013-2014 academic year.

While the initial goal was to admit 80 percent Michigan natives, the actual total came out to 89 percent for this year. Central Michigan plans to admit 104 students for the 2014-2015 academic school year. More students will be admitted each year as the program progresses, eventually capping the total at 400 students.

The application committee focused on students who were committed to communities in Michigan lacking medical resources. “As the only medical school in Michigan training doctors to address the needs of residents and families living in more rural regions, we selected students with a passion for medically underserved communities,” Dean Ernie Yoder said in a recent statement.

Predictions from 2008 of future shortages of doctors trained in the United States spurred the planning stage for the introduction of the new medical school at Central Michigan. The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University were the only schools in Michigan that included medical schools at the time of the forecasts. Since 2008, Western Michigan University and Oakland University have begun medical schools in additional to Central Michigan.

The opening of the College of Medicine marks a big step for the university, which began in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business College.
 

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