Background

The Lyuben Karavelov general secondary school in the City of Varna, Bulgaria, was in dire need of refurbishment. The wooden window frames were worn out beyond repair and there were a lot of broken windows. In addition, the building envelope and the heating system were in need of a general upgrade. Therefore, because of the poor state of the building, the Education Department for the Municipality of Varna included the building in the priority list of schools in need of refurbishment for 2005.

Building details
Type of building	General secondary school
Year built/ Floor area/ Operating hours	The building was constructed in 1961. The total floor area is 4,200m2 and it operates 60 hours a week from Monday to Friday, from 7:30 a.m. till 7:30 p.m.
Heating and cooling installed	Local naphtha-fuel boiler house
Energy label/ CO2 emissions	The success of this project for reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions is demonstrated by the improvement in the Display® ratings from 2005 (before the project) to 2006 (after the project): _ 2005: - Energy: Class Е - 312kWh/m2/year  CO2: Class G - 81kg/m2/year  Water: Class E – 531 l/m2/year _ 2006: - Energy: Class D - 223kWh/m2/year  CO2: Class E - 56kg/m2/year  Water: Class G – 989 l/m2/year _ Unfortunately, the water rating has gone down from Class E to Class G. Therefore the next step is to reduce water consumption in the school.

Project description
Aim	_ The aim of the project was to improve the indoor climate of the school (by replacing the existing wooden window frames with PVC frames to reduce air infiltration) and to reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions.
Key points	_ All of the wooden window frames in the school were replaced with PVC frames and the windows were double glazed. This was financed through a national programme run by the Ministry of Education, to improve energy efficiency of Bulgarian school by replacing old, worn out wooden window frames. The Lyuben Karavelov school was included in the priority list for the municipality because of its poor condition compared to the rest of the schools. _ In 2005 the whole lighting system of the building was repaired and all lamps were replaced with modern compact fluorescent lights. This improvement reduced the energy consumption and the CO2 emissions which is clearly visible from the Display® poster. The upgrading of the lighting system was financed by the municipality through a bank loan. _ The building still needs a new heating system and the envelope needs to be improved. Next year, the Municipality of Varna plans to fund an energy audit and a subsequent project to implement the suggested energy efficiency measures. This will further improve the school’s energy performance and it may reach the highest Display® classes.
Reason for inclusion as Shining Example	This project demonstrates that even with the implementation of only one or two energy saving measures, it is possible to improve the indoor climate for building users and achieve significant energy savings- enough to move up one Display® class.