Developing sustainable school guidelines: the case of Egypt

Abstract

Educational reform has been a concerning matter to the Egyptian government since the 20th century. In order to address the educational problems, several initiatives have instigated a quantitative expansion approach, rather than a qualitative one. Existing building assessment methods convey sustainability principles to building design. However, they do not consider the school design as an active pedagogical tool for sustainable education and development. In addition they do not integrate other imperative parameters necessary for the effective learning and development of students. The developed guideline is divided into two school rating systems; new and existing. The guideline is further divided into three main sustainability categories: energy, water, and habitat. The directing parameters of the guideline are based on sustainable building assessment parameters, Egypt’s pressing social, economic and environmental concerns, pedagogy of educational environments, students’ social, psychological, and developmental needs, in order to develop a holistic framework.