The Building Certification System - A Tool of Sustainable Development of University Campuses

Abstract The study is part of humanity's current concerns of tempering climate change for sustainable development, in the context where the construction sector is responsible for a significant percentage of greenhouse gas emissions. In the present work, through a rigorous documentation, the authors synthesize several existing green and sustainable building certification systems. Extending the study from buildings to green neighbourhoods, to university campuses and even to green cities, models of their sustainable development are highlighted. The authors summarize the results of the various "green" ratings, initiating "Top 10 Greenest Universities in the world", demonstrating the interest of certification and classification. The paper presents the case study of the University of Oradea. From this perspective, participation in a rating of green campuses, as well as certification of buildings, are stimulating elements for approaching a sustainable development strategy. Thus, with the registration in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings, the University of Oradea is set to rise in the ranking, which actually led to the improvement of the green criteria and implicitly to an orientation towards a sustainable development of the university campus. At the same time, the paper demonstrates that the energy certification of old buildings engaged in the "wave of renovations" is a tool for the sustainable development of university campuses.