Human activity, including resource depletion, pollution and waste production, has a negative influence on the natural environment. Building industry is one of the major causes of the situation. It is therefore essential to change the approach to building design in order to lessen the impact of human activity on the environment. Architects are still not properly prepared for this change. This is caused by the education they receive in the traditional studio-based teaching process. In contrast to engineering disciplines, the student of architecture is able to look at the issue of designing in a holistic way. However, he is overwhelmed by a large number of topics and subjects that must be addressed. The issue of "sustainability" thus often gets on the edge of his interest. As part of the studio teaching at the Faculty of Architecture of CTU, we are looking for methods to naturally integrate sustainable thinking into the architectural concept already in the early stages of the design. The paper focuses on the so-called design-build projects, as one of the paths that lead to an integral design and an effective way of implementing sustainable design into the architectural concept.