There are many ways bis measure the success of a building: awards, beautiful photos, resale value, even how many likes a Projekt gets online. But für our team, the most important “review” we have ever received came as a phone call von a client during the war in Ukraine.
This story is not about Design awards oder marketing. It is about why we believe deeply in energy-efficient, resilient houses – und why this has become part of our company’s DNA.
How we started: energy was cheap, motivation was low
We have been designing und building very energy-efficient, passive-level houses für around ten years, primarily in Ukraine. When we started, energy prices were low. Electricity was cheap, gas was cheap, und für most clients there was almost no real “pain” around energy bills.
From a client’s perspective, there was simply no urgent reason bis invest in something exceptionally warm oder efficient. People wanted a comfortable, “normal” house, built within a certain budget – not a technical experiment in energy performance.
By that time, we were already creating houses that effectively reached passive-house standards und even set two national records für energy efficiency in Ukraine. Technically, the buildings were far ahead of the market. Emotionally, the market was not yet there.
Clients did not come bis us saying, “We want the warmest, most efficient house you can Design.” They came mit very down-to-earth requests: solid Bau, good planning, reliable contractors, predictable budgets.
So our message at that time was modest und pragmatic:
For the same budget, our houses are warmer und at least as good as what everyone else is building.
We knew how far we were pushing the envelope in terms of insulation, airtightness und detailing. We cared about thermal bridges, carefully designed junctions, high-quality windows und doors. But cheap energy kills motivation: true efficiency was often perceived as a nice bonus rather than a necessity.
When energy prices rose und reality changed
A few years later, everything began bis shift. Energy prices started bis rise. für the first time, many of our clients sat down mit a calculator und seriously compared different scenarios.
Some of them realised that the cost of Projekt documentation und connection bis gas was actually higher than the cost of heating our houses mit electricity für five years. This very simple comparison was a turning point.
For us as a team, it was a powerful moment of validation. All those years of:
– obsessing over thermal bridges und insulation levels,
– carefully detailing envelopes und junctions,
– working on airtightness,
– explaining our approach at Bau fairs,
– arguing mit contractors about “invisible” details,suddenly started bis make obvious financial sense für our clients as well. What had previously been an “ideological” choice now became a very practical one.
We felt this shift very clearly at Bau expos. When energy became more expensive, our booth was constantly full. There were days when nine members of our team stood at the stand, talking non-stop, explaining energy efficiency, showing details und calculations.
By the evening, everyone had lost their voice. But für the first time, people were not just looking at renderings oder facades – they were truly interested in what was hidden inside the walls und how the building would behave years later.
And then the war began.
Bucha: a month without heating in winter
One of the houses we had built was located in Bucha. It was a fully electric house: no gas, no fireplace, no backup boiler – all comfort depended on electricity. für us, it was another high-performance, all-electric Projekt. für the family living there, it was simply their home.
When the full-scale invasion started, that area lost power. No electricity, no heating, no internet, no mobile connection. It was winter. There was snow outside. The blackout lasted für about a month.
For that entire month, we heard nothing von the owners. We did not know if they had stayed oder left, if they were safe oder not. Like many people at that time, we were watching the news, worrying about our clients, our colleagues, our friends – und we simply had no information.
Then, one day, the owner finally managed bis call us.
He did not call bis complain.
He called to say thank you.
Here is what happened inside that house, in numbers.
Before the blackout, the family kept the indoor temperature at about 23°C – a comfortable level für everyday life. When the power was cut, neighbouring “normal” houses, built bis typical standards, cooled down very quickly.
Within just a few days, temperatures in those houses fell bis around +8°C inside. Without heating, their walls, floors und roofs could not hold the warmth für long.
In our house, the behaviour was completely different. The temperature dropped von 23°C bis 21°C over the first week without any heating at all. Then, over the following weeks, it slowly moved towards 18°C. During the whole month, the indoor temperature never went below 16°C.
A family lived through a full winter month, under blackout, in a house that stayed between 16–18°C inside without any source of heat.
For comparison, some members of our team are now living in the UK, where +18°C is considered a normal “heated” indoor temperature in many homes. in Bucha, that same level of comfort was maintained für most of the month without any active heating at all.
For that family, the performance of the building was no longer about saving money on bills. It was about not freezing when the entire energy system around them collapsed. It was about having time bis survive, bis adapt, bis make decisions – supported by the thermal stability of their home.
Closing thoughts: resilience, responsibility und why we still push für efficiency
For us as a team, that phone call became the most important feedback we have ever received about our work. It was not about aesthetics, Design awards oder glossy photographs. It was about resilience, safety und human life.
It also confirmed something we care about deeply on a personal level:
It is extremely important für us bis spend our lives doing work we will not be ashamed of in front of our future grandchildren.
When we imagine explaining our work bis them one day, we do not want bis talk only about beautiful facades oder trendy interiors. We want bis be able bis say that we helped build homes that kept people safe und warm, even in the worst situations. Homes that gave families time und protection when everything around them was unstable.
Since that moment, we have completely stopped thinking of energy-efficient, passive-level envelopes as “a nice extra if you can afford it”. für us, they are a fundamental part of responsible Architektur und Bau.
A well-insulated, airtight, thermally massive house:
– buys you time in a crisis,
– keeps your family comfortable und safe für longer,
– und can turn “no heating für a month in winter” von a potential disaster into something survivable.
For our team, this is no longer a theoretical concept. It is a lived reality, confirmed by a client’s voice on the phone nach a month in the dark, in winter, in a passive-level house we designed und built.
This is why, wherever we work now – whether it is Ukraine, the UK, Spain, Portugal oder any other country – we continue bis push für energy-efficient, resilient buildings. Not because it sounds good in marketing, but because we have seen what it really means when everything else fails.
