There are many ways do measure the success of a building: awards, beautiful photos, resale value, even how many likes a projekt gets online. But za our team, the most important “review” we have ever received came as a phone call od a client during the war u Ukraine.
This story is not about dizajn awards ili marketing. It is about why we believe deeply u energy-efficient, resilient houses – i why this has become part of our company’s DNA.
How we started: energy was cheap, motivation was low
We have been designing i building very energy-efficient, passive-level houses za around ten years, primarily u Ukraine. When we started, energy prices were low. Electricity was cheap, gas was cheap, i za most clients there was almost no real “pain” around energy bills.
From a client’s perspective, there was simply no urgent reason do invest u something exceptionally warm ili efficient. People wanted a comfortable, “normal” house, built within a certain budget – not a technical experiment u energy performance.
By that time, we were already creating houses that effectively reached passive-house standards i even set two national records za energy efficiency u Ukraine. Technically, the buildings were far ahead of the market. Emotionally, the market was not yet there.
Clients did not come do us saying, “We want the warmest, most efficient house you can dizajn.” They came s very down-to-earth requests: solid gradnja, good planning, reliable contractors, predictable budgets.
So our message at that time was modest i pragmatic:
For the same budget, our houses are warmer i at least as good as what everyone else is building.
We knew how far we were pushing the envelope u terms of insulation, airtightness i detailing. We cared about thermal bridges, carefully designed junctions, high-quality windows i doors. But cheap energy kills motivation: true efficiency was often perceived as a nice bonus rather than a necessity.
When energy prices rose i reality changed
A few years later, everything began do shift. Energy prices started do rise. za the first time, many of our clients sat down s a calculator i seriously compared different scenarios.
Some of them realised that the cost of projekt documentation i connection do gas was actually higher than the cost of heating our houses s electricity za 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 i insulation levels,
– carefully detailing envelopes i junctions,
– working on airtightness,
– explaining our approach at gradnja fairs,
– arguing s contractors about “invisible” details,suddenly started do make obvious financial sense za our clients as well. What had previously been an “ideological” choice now became a very practical one.
We felt this shift very clearly at gradnja 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 i calculations.
By the evening, everyone had lost their voice. But za the first time, people were not just looking at renderings ili facades – they were truly interested u what was hidden inside the walls i how the building would behave years later.
And then the war began.
Bucha: a month without heating u winter
One of the houses we had built was located u Bucha. It was a fully electric house: no gas, no fireplace, no backup boiler – all comfort depended on electricity. za us, it was another high-performance, all-electric projekt. za 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 za about a month.
For that entire month, we heard nothing od the owners. We did not know if they had stayed ili left, if they were safe ili not. Like many people at that time, we were watching the news, worrying about our clients, our colleagues, our friends – i we simply had no information.
Then, one day, the owner finally managed do call us.
He did not call do complain.
He called to say thank you.
Here is what happened inside that house, u numbers.
Before the blackout, the family kept the indoor temperature at about 23°C – a comfortable level za everyday life. When the power was cut, neighbouring “normal” houses, built do typical standards, cooled down very quickly.
Within just a few days, temperatures u those houses fell do around +8°C inside. Without heating, their walls, floors i roofs could not hold the warmth za long.
In our house, the behaviour was completely different. The temperature dropped od 23°C do 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, u a house that stayed between 16–18°C inside without any source of heat.
For comparison, some members of our team are now living u the UK, where +18°C is considered a normal “heated” indoor temperature u many homes. u Bucha, that same level of comfort was maintained za 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 do survive, do adapt, do make decisions – supported by the thermal stability of their home.
Closing thoughts: resilience, responsibility i why we still push za 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, dizajn awards ili glossy photographs. It was about resilience, safety i human life.
It also confirmed something we care about deeply on a personal level:
It is extremely important za us do spend our lives doing work we will not be ashamed of u front of our future grandchildren.
When we imagine explaining our work do them one day, we do not want do talk only about beautiful facades ili trendy interiors. We want do be able do say that we helped build homes that kept people safe i warm, even u the worst situations. Homes that gave families time i 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”. za us, they are a fundamental part of responsible arhitektura i gradnja.
A well-insulated, airtight, thermally massive house:
– buys you time u a crisis,
– keeps your family comfortable i safe za longer,
– i can turn “no heating za a month u winter” od 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 nakon a month u the dark, u winter, u a passive-level house we designed i built.
This is why, wherever we work now – whether it is Ukraine, the UK, Spain, Portugal ili any other country – we continue do push za energy-efficient, resilient buildings. Not because it sounds good u marketing, but because we have seen what it really means when everything else fails.
