Green Campus
Özyeğin University's Çekmeköy Campus was designed by RMJM, the designer of the leading world universities' campuses and buildings. Among other projects completed by the RMJM group are Columbia University's Medical Center, Cambridge University's William Gates Building, Princeton University's Bowen Building, Oxford University's Chemistry Research Building, and Ayr Campus of the University of West Scotland. Light and transparency are defining characteristics of Özyeğin University's Çekmeköy campus buildings, which focuses on the use of natural materials. Built with flexibility and modularity in mind, the campus serves as a model for sustainability through its economy of resources and operational costs.
OzU has always strived to be a green university since the day it was founded. Sustainability is one of the core elements included the University’s first founding strategy. As a testament to OzU’s commitment to being a green sustainable university, three of OzU’s campus buildings received the LEED Gold Certificate based on the measurements of the US Green Buildings Council. The third campus building, AB3 or the ScOLa, is renowned as one of Turkey’s most energy efficient academic buildings. Today, the total energy consumption of the ScOLa building corresponds to only 20 percent of an average academic building in Turkey. The ScOLa building was constructed within the scope of the NEED4B “New Energy Efficiency Demonstration for Buildings”, a collaborative project co-financed by the European Union under its 7th Framework Program for which the Center of Energy, Environment and Economy (CEEE) at Özyeğin University won a project award. With its budget of 1.3 Million Euros, the NEED4B project is also one of the biggest energy projects that has ever been awarded to a Turkish university.
TRIBE is another project for which the CEEE won a project award. Launched in 2015, TRIBE is the first program financed under the European Union’s Horizon-2020 program in Turkey. The project was selected as the first project among 94 project proposals. TRIBE aims to increase the energy efficiency of the OzU AB1 building based on user preferences through the internet of objects.
In addition to the LEED certificates, OzU is the first university in Turkey that has been concurrently awarded ISO 14001 Environmental Management System and OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System Certifications. ISO 14001 provides organizations with an environmental management system to manage and enhance their environmental performance. OHSAS 18001 is an Occupational Health and Safety Management Certification which provides a framework to identify, control, and decrease the risks associated with health and safety within the workplace.
Furthermore, Özyeğin University has 376 kW-e solar panels installed in collaboration with Fina Energy as well as seven green roofs on its campus. Since its foundation, the University also houses an on-campus Energy Distribution Center, to manage all on-campus energy generation and consumption. The University also has comprehensive building automation applications, and well-organized water and waste management practices in place.
Health & Safety and Environment Department (HSE)
The University has a series of health, safety and environmental policies in place which ensure the implementation and continuity of sustainability principles and the green campus concept in its daily practices. Environmental protection, waste safety, and energy efficiency are firmly anchored in all practices at OzU. The environmental management system is designed in a way to ensure that it is easily adopted by students, faculty, and staff, and made an integral part of their lives. Therefore, Özyeğin University sees environmental awareness as a key element of its organizational culture. Hence, it is the primary responsibility of all academic and administrative directors to create and develop a mutual understanding, as well as shared beliefs, habits, and values pertaining to environmental awareness among all stakeholders.
Environmental awareness of Özyeğin University entails ensuring and encouraging all stakeholders to safely share and exchange environmental knowledge, effectively distinguishing acceptable behavior from the unacceptable one, always questioning and targeting for excellence, and taking personal responsibility and accountability for all their actions.
Özyeğin University promotes and supports organizing training programs, seminars, events, and similar other activities to increase environmental awareness.
The University also makes sure that all its new buildings are environmentally friendly. Environmental hazards are identified, starting from the planning stages to the completion of all facilities, new construction projects, academic activities, or any events in which Özyeğin University is involved. Any precautions needed in the identification and minimization of environmental hazards and risks are planned in compliance with the effective laws and legislations.
In selecting materials, equipment, and systems, more environmentally friendly options are preferred. Necessary precautions are taken against any spills and leaks that may occur during the transportation, storage, and use of materials that may have negative environmental effects.
For more information on our HSE application please visit hse.ozyegin.edu.tr.