Alexander Kucheryavy – architect with over 15 years of experience in sustainable architecture. He is the author of the first Active House in Ukraine, which is officially recognized by the European community. He ranks among the top 30 verifiers of active buildings worldwide. Alexander spoke to LDaily about preparing projects for the restoration of Ukraine based on the principles of sustainable development.
LDaily: What has been your experience of running a business during the war? What changes have occurred in your company, what challenges have you faced, and how have you overcome them?
A. Kucheryavy: Iterating through options until something works—that’s been my key experience during the war. Construction projects have stopped. While bombs are falling, clients aren’t very eager to invest in construction.
At first, volunteering took up most of my time. There was no time for regular work, like everyone else. We are not unique in this regard. My surroundings have been and are still doing everything to bring victory closer.
Nevertheless, we are currently focusing on:
Our team has consciously refused to participate in all temporary, modular, here-and-now, and better-yesterday, $500 “turnkey” building projects. We understand the consequences of this approach. Our strengths lie elsewhere. Ukraine definitely deserves more, considering the price it is paying now, both on the front lines and at home. But this takes time.
LDaily: How difficult is it to attract new clients during the war? How have your clients’ needs changed due to the war?
A. Kucheryavy: Surprisingly, it’s easy for us. The time has come when specialists who can provide guarantees are needed. We can provide such guarantees in the field of green construction with a focus on human health and productivity. The market is already adjusting to us, and clients are interested in quality and results. Because behind the lofty words like “sustainable development, energy efficiency, build back better,” there must be real numbers, not empty talk, for funds to be allocated for recovery.
Numbers are our strong suit. Energy efficiency and environmental aspects are clear through indicators, but we even manage to measure safety in numbers. And not only short-term safety, like having a place to hide when bombs are falling, but also long-term safety, which includes the well-being, productivity, and health of people in the building.
So the client’s need today is for a solution that works, not just catchy phrases that might attract investment.
LDaily: How does the company react to market changes, and how do you track clients’ needs in times of war?
A. Kucheryavy: We have already reacted. Even before the war. It’s not difficult if you look long-term, years ahead, rather than just trying to make money here and now by pouring everything in concrete. The war has simply intensified and accelerated everything. The era of bomb shelter architecture will pass.
The main trends for business today are primarily related to the conditions set by the international community: under what conditions will funding be allocated for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Our task as Active House Ukraine is to restore Ukraine in accordance with the principles of sustainable development and the New European Bauhaus, the International Active House Alliance, the National Alliance in Ukraine, and the Active House Academy are all official partners of this European initiative. Our comprehensive approach consists of concrete steps to achieve the European Green Deal’s objectives.
We know exactly how to work in the architectural and construction sector so that by 2050, Europe becomes a climate-neutral continent, i.e., without a negative impact on the environment, including no reliance on russian oil and gas or other hydrocarbons.
Examples
Schools
Don’t you think we need super schools where productivity can compensate for the time children have spent receiving questionable online education or staying in bomb shelters during the war?
Even a brilliant new European program with brilliant teachers cannot guarantee results if the building, where a child spends at least 11,025 hours over 11 grades, does not focus on key environmental factors that contribute to academic achievement, productivity, and high performance.
We have solutions that guarantee these factors will be met. In other words, if you build a school in the Active House format, you get a 20-30% increase in academic performance. Does this sound good to you?
Hospitals
Are you aware of what affects recovery? It turns out it’s not only the treatment prescribed to you. By adhering to Active House requirements for hospital and rehabilitation center buildings, we can directly contribute to faster recovery and, as a result, free up space for another patient. We all understand the need for quality treatment and rehabilitation of our defenders is more than relevant.
Housing
In general, people spend 86.9% of their time in buildings, which equates to 20 hours and 51 minutes per day! This is based on a standard lifestyle. Have doubts? Recall the pandemic. Do you still think that buildings don’t affect your well-being?
Offices
Consider a standard company, such as IT. Where do you think the main expenses go? Rent? Utility bills? The answer: 90% of costs for a company to function, create a product, and generate income go to employee salaries. 8% goes to rent and 2% to utilities. When an employee works and doesn’t get sick, the company’s profits grow.
For these reasons, based on the numbers, our solutions always focus on productivity and human health, while energy efficiency, though important, is only a means to an end.
As for ecology, it already directly affects the economy and the quality of life worldwide. It is our responsibility to ourselves and our children. Today, we drink less pure water, breathe less clean air, and grow food in less pristine soil than, for example, 10 years ago.
We are the generation that has realized that we are indeed the cause of climate change, and we are the generation with the power and responsibility to prevent its consequences.
To do this, we need to take action. We address this problem through sustainable architecture and construction.
LDaily: What innovations are you implementing in your business?
A. Kucheryavy: Our main innovation is the Active House methodology, which allows us to provide numeric answers to key questions facing the European Union (and now Ukraine, as we have decided to become a part of it) up to 2050.
To reiterate, we have data-backed answers in the areas of:
It’s simple, fast, efficient, and, as Ukrainians like to say, “three times cheaper” compared to other rating systems.
LDaily: What projects are currently in development?
A. Kucheryavy: We are consulting on projects in Ukraine and abroad. We provide training for specialists in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Even colleagues from Australia have contacted us, as our approach is universal and our competencies allow us to solve problems and make calculations for any location on the planet.
But I prefer to share results, not processes.
The main result for me is the constructed buildings that provide optimal living, working, and leisure conditions, while using minimal energy during construction, operation, and disposal, and without negatively impacting the environment.
Recent projects include:
– an 8-apartment residential building in Milan;
– Active House Advisor Course throughout the month for a group of specialists in the United States;
– a series of studies on European projects for implementation in Ukraine.
As you can see, the processes are underway. As soon as there are results, LDaily will be among the first to know. We just need to wait a little.
LDaily: How do you assess competition in the market during the war, and how do you plan to respond to the challenges it poses?
A. Kucheryavy: Competition invigorates me. Still, there is no faster, more efficient, and affordable rating system in terms of time and money in the Ukrainian market. Without false modesty: Active House is the best thing that can happen to your building and you!
It is, of course, regrettable when some clients are so inert that they still follow old, well-trodden, and dead-end paths. But that is their choice and responsibility for the consequences.
We have been working on this since 2015, providing education and training in the field of sustainable architecture and construction.
Moreover, we have signed memorandums with 7 leading Ukrainian universities regarding the integration of the Active House approach into the educational process for students. Due to the war, this process is not developing as quickly as planned, but it is ongoing. The strategy has been developed and agreed upon, and as soon as the opportunity arises, we will implement it immediately.
In any case, our priority will always be quality, not quantity. That is, if we have a choice between implementing education little by little in all universities without a guarantee of results, or in just one but after graduation, we get a specialist – the answer is clear for us: option number two.
The same goes for buildings. Either more than 300 schools just for show (by the way, that’s about how many are destroyed at the moment), or 30 Active House schools – we will focus on the 30. Because what’s the point of schools where it’s impossible to learn?!
LDaily: How do you maintain the morale of your team?
A. Kucheryavy: By working. If you’re not on the frontlines with a gun, you must work and donate. When a person is busy, involved in the process, sees the results of their work, and has the opportunity to take care of their family and loved ones in the Armed Forces of Ukraine – this is effective support.
LDaily: How do you assess the risks and opportunities for your business in case the war continues and how do you plan to respond to these challenges?
A. Kucheryavy: There are risks, and we take them into account. We use this time to prepare projects, educate, and consult colleagues, organizations, and partners. I hope no one has any illusions: when the war ends, you won’t learn how to design or build buildings worthy of the era of sustainable development in a month.
Remind me, please, how many energy-efficient multi-story buildings have been built since 2014 with confirmed energy-saving parameters?
LDaily: How do you plan to develop your business after the war? What challenges and opportunities lie ahead?
A. Kucheryavy: Ukrainians are paying too high a price with their lives for freedom and European values.
I consider it unacceptable after the war for donor money, our donations, and private investments to be poured into concrete, to build new – even beautiful for some – but essentially meaningless buildings that will not solve our problems but only create new ones!
I would not like Ukraine to become a graveyard of European project technologies, and for us to be seen only as a market. Personally, I believe that the participation of a Ukrainian architect should be mandatory in every architectural project for Ukraine. At least – for education, for passing on experience, and for adapting to the local context.
Ukrainians know better what suits us and what doesn’t.
As for our team, we will continue to conduct business as we did before the war: providing solutions and consulting to create an environment of such quality where people want to live, not just survive, where millions of Ukrainian families want to return; an environment for which the next generation will say “thank you.”
And we and our children definitely deserve a better future, which, unfortunately, we are paying for with blood. The main task now is not to miss this chance for a better life.
