Kodumaja energy-efficient houses

Energy efficiency in housing construction has been gaining popularity. However, a truly energy-efficient house is impossible to build without paying attention to all aspects of construction – house architecture, layout, structural solutions, technical systems, selection of materials and equipment, assuring quality of construction works and many other things. Energy efficiency actually means efficient solutions and quality in the broadest sense of the word.

Taking into account our long experience in the implementation of various housing construction projects in the Nordic markets and development trends in housing construction, Kodumaja has set itself the objective of developing a number of typical small houses featuring energy efficiency, durability, reliability and attractiveness. In developing such buildings, we proceeded from the following keywords:

1. Optimal and functional

the layout of rooms must include everything important without overcharging
layout and furnishing of a room must be convenient and functional
floor area and cubic capacity of rooms must be used with the utmost efficiency
maximum of space and light, minimum of passages and other ineffectively used areas

2. Minimal operating costs for energy and maintenance

living rooms must be well-ventilated, an internal environment must be high-quality and healthy
to plan for relatively high standard of energy efficiency and possibilities to raise the efficiency if the occupants wish to make extra investments into energy efficiency of their building (See small houses of KODU series)
to minimise mutual dependency of apartments' energy consumption and to design technical systems in such a way that the owner of every apartment would pay only for the consumption in their apartment
the quality of construction must minimise later expenses for maintenance and repairs
in technical systems, to use equipment with the best price/energy efficiency ratio
to minimise thermal bridges

3. High quality

structural and technical solutions must comply with all applicable construction norms and standards
the best experience and knowledge of Kodumaja in the field of housing construction and the latest achievements in product development must be employed to the utmost extent
all advantages of industrial production method must be used to the utmost extent to assure quality

4. Inexpensive to produce and build, competitive selling price

residential building must be feasible for the construction from prefab modules and, technologically, for the production in factory conditions
to achieve the maximum possible level of prefabrication in factory conditions and minimise the scope of works on the construction site

5. Possibility to make changes in composition, energy efficiency and finishing

to plan for possibilities to upgrade the standard building and add extra amenities if the occupants are willing to make additional investments - including selection of equipment, level of interior finishing and energy efficiency

6. Eye-catching architecture with minimal costs

materials used for interior finishing must be high-quality but not luxurious
elegant but inexpensive architecture which may be made more attractive by eye-catching architectural elements and well-matched colour combinations
a lot of light and space

7. Privacy and minimal dependency on neighbours

in small apartment buildings we prefer to keep the number of apartments small
it is important to preserve/create the so-called feeling of "my house"

Kodumaja has developed a number of typical small houses under the product series name KODU which achieve to a very large extent the objective described above. These are the houses created for a long-term competitive advantage.