Project: The Anglo-American School of Sofia in Bulgaria

Sited at the foot of an eponymous mountain in Bulgaria, the Anglo-American School of Sofia teaches 380 expatriate children from 44 countries.

This past summer, the school doubled its classroom space with the Vitosha Wing. The expansion not only brought much needed space, but it furthered Sofia’s green ambitions. In July 2011, the school was deemed the Most Environmentally Friendly Company thanks to their recycling program, reuse of natural resources, sustainable buildings, and mission to make students environmentally aware.

The new wing is built with a green roof, open multipurpose areas for flexible learning environments, solar panels for heating water, photovoltaic-covered parking to collect energy, and a self supporting water system allowing for reuse of graywater.

“We are seeing an increasing in green building and certification on the market in Bulgaria,” says Vessela Valtcheva-McGee, principal of Triple Green Building Group, LLC , a global sustainable consultantancy. “Despite the stagnation of the construction industry it appears that most major investment projects implement a recognized building rating system. This is a clear indicator that the leaders in the industry recognize the importance of developing high performance building projects.”

The school has received many awards including Building of the Year 2006, and Sustainable Building Project 2010 in a Chamber of Architects competition for sustainable buildings, the winners of which were exhibited in Brussels at the European Commission. Last year it received LEED for Existing Buildings: Gold certification for the existing wing, and is currently being certified under LEED BD+C for the new wing. It is the only LEED Gold-certified building in Bulgaria, as well as the only LEED for Existing Buildings, Operations + Maintenance (LEED EBOM) project in the region.