In 2025, the University of Michigan School of Information will move into the brand-new Leinweber Computer Science and Information Building on North Campus. 

The building will unite the five different UMSI locations currently spread across central campus and downtown Ann Arbor, and co-locate UMSI and the Computer Science and Engineering Division of Michigan Engineering for the first time. 

“Co-location with Computer Science and Engineering unlocks fresh opportunities for instruction and collaboration,” said Thomas A. Finholt, U-M Vice Provost for Academic and Budgetary Affairs, professor of information and Dean Emeritus of the School of Information. "Working together, we can more effectively create and share information with technology, toward our goal of building a better world."

Here are five more things that students, faculty and staff can appreciate about the Leinweber CSI Building:  

1. It will be the first large-scale university building entirely heated by U-M’s new geo-exchange system.

The Hayward Street Geothermal Facility is the first major geo-exchange facility at the University of Michigan, and it is a huge step toward university-wide carbon neutrality goals. 

Thanks to the Hayward Street Geothermal Facility, the Leinweber CSI Building will be all electric. The building will be entirely heated by the geo-exchange system and partially cooled by it. (At times, some cooling will come from the North Campus Chiller Plant, another all-electric facility.) 

2. The building was designed to complement surrounding campus. 

Because the Leinweber CSI Building is basically located within the side of a hill, it presented an interesting and unusual construction challenge compared to typical campus buildings. 

“Before we could begin construction, a large amount of earth needed to be removed,” says Trudy Zedaker-Witte, senior project manager at U-M Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC). “Then, a very complex foundation system was installed. None of this can be seen, but it is crucial to support the building and keep the remaining surrounding earth from shifting.”

3. Information is changing construction of UMSI’s future home.  

U-M AEC experts and Walbridge consultants have been constructing buildings together in dodgy Michigan weather for many years — and they know that information changes everything. 

“Walbridge designed and developed our construction schedule with consideration to historic weather data, plus other factors, to allow the Leinweber project to have a continuous flow of work, even in the winter months,” Zedaker-Witte says. 

4. 280,000 labor hours into construction, workers and team members are maintaining their goal of zero lost time injuries.

Approximately 160 people work on Leinweber CSI Building construction every day. Those workers include roofers, ironworkers, delivery and truck drivers, general construction workers and high voltage electrical workers — all listed among the 10 most dangerous jobs in America for 2024, according to Forbes. 

5. You’ll be able to see the completed exterior very soon — and the interior is already a "beehive of activity."

Workers are finishing up the masonry and brickwork on the building’s exterior with completion projected in late March 2024. 

About half of the people working inside the Leinweber CSI Building on any given day are electricians, plumbers and other skilled tradespeople, Zedaker-Witte says. 

They’re hard at work installing electrical, mechanical, fire protection and HVAC systems to keep everyone comfortable and safe throughout the 163,000-square-foot, five-story plus penthouse complex, which will house reconfigurable classrooms, student maker labs, collaboration spaces, research labs and two of the biggest lecture halls on North Campus. 

LEARN MORE

Find news about UMSI’s future home and a construction live-feed on the Leinweber CSI Building website.