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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable development is the organizing principle for meeting human development goals while at the same time sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources upon which the economy and society depend. The desirable end result is a state of society where living conditions and resource use continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural systems. The construction sector has enormous worldwide potential for environmental protection and improvement in the standard of living. While standard construction pursues short-term economic objectives, sustainable development is based on the best practices that promote long-term cost-effectiveness, quality and efficiency. A sustainably designed building will minimize water consumption, primary raw materials, energy, land … throughout its entire lifespan. To that end three major systems have been developed internationally and are gradually gaining popularity in Bulgaria. These are BREEAM, LEED and DGNB.

The professionals at Synergy Bulgaria EOOD will prepare the required preliminary analyses and will take care of the subsequent auditing and certification under the DGNB Bulgaria & International depending on the type of building. Our consulting services cover the stages of design, construction and operation during the entire lifespan of buildings. The certification systems employ the widest possible range of sustainability criteria. A distinction is drawn among the characteristics of buildings, the quality of processes during the design, construction and operation stages, and the characteristics of the location of the building. Quality is measured through accurate qualitative indicators, thus securing objectivity. The major evaluation indicators are divided into six major groups – environmental quality, economic indicators, socio-functional quality, technical characteristics, processes and location.

The major activities related to certification of buildings are as follows:

  • Calculating the total environmental footprint of the building starting from the chosen materials, moving through the construction of a building to its demolition;

  • Calculating the costs for the total lifespan of a building;

  • Building energy simulation;

  • Simulation concerning the amount of daylight and optimization of lighting.