Monday LEEDoff: Ecodiplomacy Yields Certification for Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria

Designed by Virginia Beach-based CMSS Architects, the new U.S. Embassy in Sofia last week received a LEED Certified rating from USGBC. CMSS sought to integrate a mix of modern American diplomatic design and contemporary and classical Bulgarian architecture, while at the same time setting an example of environmentally responsible construction. The building consumes twenty-one percent less water and thirty percent less energy than its predecessor structure and was developed on the site of a former brownfield. The embassy also planted 400 trees once construction was completed and installed a highly efficient irrigation system to reduce the use of irrigation water by fifty-three percent.

According to ABC News, the State Department hopes to certify fifteen new embassy buildings in various countries to LEED Silver by 2009. Designing American embassies (and other buildings abroad commissioned by the federal government, such as military facilities) to perform at high levels of efficiency- what ABC calls “ecodiplomacy”- serves an important dual purpose. First, it introduces local contractors to sustainable construction practices, which is particularly important in countries where such practices have yet to be implemented at large. Second, it demonstrates to the local population that the U.S. is committed to being a socially responsible guest in the host nation. Both are certainly worthwhile goals and it’s encouraging to see the federal government taking green building seriously in the context of international diplomacy.

• U.S. Embassy Goes Green (ABC News)