arch. Milena Fetvadjieva
Master of Architecture from the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design and certified consultant to the German Council for Sustainable Development. Founder of URBANVIVA Architecture Studio, Sofia.
Licensed designer by the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria and the Architectural Register of the Netherlands.
Professional responsibility in figures
In order to practice, an architect is required to hold a Design Licence. In Bulgaria, the Design Licence is issued by the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria (CAB) on the basis of the diploma of graduation and proven experience in the specialty.
There are 4 548 architects, urban planners and landscape architects registered with the CAB.
(https://kab.bg/registr/arhitekti/)
By comparison, we have 14 101 people registered in the Architectural Register of the Netherlands (https://www.architectenregister.nl/en/the-architects-register/about-us), of which 75% are architects (9871 ), 13% interior designers, 6% urban planners and 5% landscape architects.
there are 560 000 registered architects in Europe registered with the European Architects Council (AEC).
Over the past decades, the majority of these 560,000 architects, together with developers, builders and regulators, have strived to design and build sustainably - the modern equivalent of responsibility, with the single goal of developing healthy and liveable cities.
What is sustainability?
In this country, the concept of sustainability is often associated with the use of natural materials such as wood or stone in construction.
Sustainability , as part of the modern technical vocabulary, is a more complex term that evaluates the overall object (urban environment, building or its components) through three main aspects - environmental, economic and social.
| Scheme |
Viewed through these three aspects, a sustainable material is not just a natural material, but one that:
- is recyclable, thus meeting environmental criteria;
- is locally produced, thus satisfying economic criteria;
- has a certificate of origin, with 'stone' or 'timber' requiring a certificate declaring that no child labour was used in the extraction, which is socially responsible.
The official definition of sustainable development was adopted in 1987 by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development with the Brundtland Report "Our Common Future" .
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of today's generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
The critical importance of sustainable construction is underlined by the European Directive ISO 15392:2008, https://www.iso.org/standard/40432.html, which establishes the general principles of sustainability.
In the construction and planning sector, the translation of the above formulation is the pursuit of reducing the environmental impact of construction through the application of groups of qualitative criteria represented by different sustainability assessment standards.
Sustainability assessment certificates
The most widely applied sustainability assessment standards are:
- British BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method),
established in 1990;
- American LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), established in 1998;
- The German DGNB (Deutschen Gesellschaft fu "r Nachhaltiges Bauen), established in 2008.
Other well-known systems are the Australian Green Star, the international GBC (Green Building Challenge), the French HQE and the Japanese CASBEE.
What the different systems have in common is that they evaluate a given site according to a set of economic, sociological and environmental quality criteria.
The second similarity is that they evaluate sites over time, within the framework of their entire life cycle: from extraction to dismantling and restoration.
Certification is proof of the real performance of buildings and contributes to a positive commercial image.
DGNBquality criteria
the DGNB is the youngest certification system for sustainable buildings and is defined as the latest generation system. It covers the design, construction and operation phases throughout the life cycle of the building. The system covers more than 50 sustainability criteria.
There is a separation between the qualities of the building, the qualities of the design, construction and operation processes and the qualities of its location.
The main assessment indicators are divided into six main groups: environmental quality, economic performance, socio-functional quality, technique, processes and location. The system gives full freedom to the designers in shaping the building. Certificates are awarded according to quality in three categories - gold, silver and bronze.
Some of the most important criteria affecting urban planning and architectural design are:
- Accessibility to the site by public transport, on foot and by bicycle - what is interesting about this criterion is that in addition to planning for bicycle racks, it is necessary that they be illuminated, and that office buildings provide a bathroom for the worker to change;
- Accessibility for all people;
- Air quality in the building and surrounding area;
- Use of local materials with product certification;
- Implementation of green roofs.
| Architects of MuzeikoChildren's Science Centre . Lee Skolnick of LHSA+DP, New York / A&AArchitects, Sofia Photo: personal archive |
Sustainable buildings in Sofia
Certified buildings in Sofia are mostly public. BREEAM, LEED and DGNB systems are applied, and the choice of certification depends on the investor and his portfolio.
One of the best implemented examples is the building of the children's science centre "Muzeiko " https://muzeiko.bg/bg/pages/building-4.html, certified with LEED GOLD, which is the highest level of the American system.
The building has a landscaped roof and is accessible to all, car parking is restricted and smoking is prohibited in the surrounding area.
| Architects of the children's science center "Muzeiko". Lee Skolnik of LHSA+DP, New York / A&AArchitects, Sofia Photo: personal archive, Atelier "The Architect's Profession" for children deprived of parental care, project of URBANVIVAstudio |
Other certified buildings are:
American Embassy in Sofia (LEED), Sopharma Business Towers (DGNB), Business Building A.02 in Sofia Airport Center (LEED), EXPO 2000 Office Building (DGNB), Serdika Center Sofia (DGNB), Knauf Office Building (DGNB), Administrative Building of the Center for the Study of Democracy (DGNB), Lidl (BREEAM), San Stefano Plaza (BREEAM), etc.
Is Sofia a sustainable city?
Sofia is a green city because of its mountains, parks and chestnut trees.
But Sofia is not accessible to everyone. People with disabilities, people with mental limitations, the elderly with walking sticks, babies in prams, our children on scooters and anyone with a broken leg, find it difficult to get around in public spaces and in many buildings.
And across the country, we breathe air that is proven to be dirty https://www.dnevnik.bg/zelen/2017/04/05/2948774_grajdani_suzdadoha_mreja_za_izmervane_kolko_mrusen_e/
Sofia is therefore, at least for now, in the sense of sustainability, not a green city.
And all 4,548 professionally responsible planners should be working, together with the administration and investors, to correct the above with the simple goal of a healthy, long and active urban life.
Part I of the article "The Architecture Profession - Dreams and Responsibilities", can be read at this link:
https:// bld.bg/aktualno/novini/profesijata-arhitekt-mechti-i-otgovornosti/70