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UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST
FACULTY OF PHYSICS Guest
2026-06-11 23:58 |
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Conference: Bucharest University Faculty of Physics 2026 Meeting
Section: Physics and Technology of Renewable and Alternative Energy Sources
Title:
Assessment of the sustainability of buildings in use according to the BREEAM standard
Authors:
Diana SANDU, Sanda VOINEA
Affiliation:
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, 405 Atomiștilor str., PO Box MG-38, Bucharest-Măgurele, Romania
E-mail
dianasandu92@gmail.com
Keywords:
sustainability of buildings, BREEAM standard, flood risk, seismic risk
Abstract:
BREEAM In-Use is the most widely used international standard for evaluating the sustainability of buildings in operation, developed by the Building Research Establishment in the United Kingdom and currently applied in over 80 countries. Unlike certifications for new buildings, it evaluates the actual performance of a property under real operating conditions—energy consumption, resilience, ecology, and management. It focuses not on design promises, but on the building as it functions today. A building is not considered sustainable only because it consumes little energy—it also matters how it manages water, the quality of indoor air, its connection to public transport, waste management practices, natural risks at the site, and the impact of construction on the local ecosystem. BREEAM assesses all these aspects together, making it especially relevant for complex buildings with a history, not only for newly optimized constructions.
The case study in this paper refers to the evaluation of the Faculty of Physics building of the University of Bucharest, located in Măgurele. The assessment focuses on flood risk, seismic risk and emergency planning, ecological value of the site, accessibility to public transport.
These were selected based on their relevance to the site and the possibility of documentation using official public sources, a field visit for ecological evaluation, and the public transport timetable. Internal building documents were not available, which required this selective approach, acknowledged and permitted by the BREEAM In-Use standard in justified cases. The evaluation indicates a building that is hydrologically resilient, but with real seismic vulnerabilities and underutilized ecological and accessibility potential. It should be noted that the evaluation was carried out with limited access to the original technical documentation, relying exclusively on publicly available sources. This limitation does not reduce the value of the diagnosis; instead, it reflects a common reality for university buildings in Romania constructed before 1989, where technical archives are often incomplete or inaccessible.
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