A Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Egyptian University Campuses

Abstract

Egypt's 2030 development plan prioritizes sustainable development, including higher education. Egyptian universities have embraced sustainable campuses, necessitating using suitable tools to measure and monitor progress. While the Green Pyramid Rating System assesses sustainability in Egypt, it lacks specific emphasis on university campuses. This study proposes a framework for evaluating the sustainability of Egyptian university campuses. This study was based on two worldwide prevailing sustainability assessment systems for campuses; some selected reports and previous studies were addressed to formulate a proposed framework that was investigated as suitable for the Egyptian context. This study applied this proposed framework to the Tanta University campus to assess its status and define the requirements to increase its sustainability. This study concluded most percentages of criteria from moderate to good. The highest value was 66-92% for education & research while planning & administration recorded 51-57% as the lowest value. Most percentages of indicators range from low to good, where education & research recorded the highest rate at 66-92%, while water indicator got the lowest at 20-26%. Finally, the highest percentage was 69% for the Sibirbay campus, while the lowest was 57% for the university administrative buildings based on the proposed framework. This study's proposed framework for evaluating the sustainability of Egyptian university campuses, applied to the Tanta University campus, provides valuable insights that can inform and guide sustainability efforts in other Egyptian universities, allowing for the assessment's transferability and effectiveness in different institutional contexts.