Developing sustainable university campus index

Abstract

Tertiary education is central to economic and political development and it is a powerful potential for growth which is very vital in an increasingly globalizing society. Universities play very important roles in the development of tertiary education and the society. It is probably in view of this fact, that the state of universities generally, is attracting global attention and the universities are currently ranked in order of performances. Although human development and economic growth depend largely on the environmental setting, however, the existing ranking system fail to consider environmental issues, despite current trend in green campus movement and sustainable development of universities. It is in the light of this, that this paper considers the prospects of developing a sustainable development rating system as an addendum to the method of ranking university campuses. Existing tools of measuring sustainable development in buildings were reviewed and BREEAM was considered most suitable for the development of university Campus Sustainable Index (CSI). It is also believed that the rating system will not only create environmental awareness and stimulate competition among universities but effect improvement in environmental conditions and environmental management systems of university campuses as well as provide a melting point of understanding sustainable development in university campus.

Keywords: Tertiary Education; Sustainable Campus Index; University Campus; Environmental Management