The Muse - a new build close to Passivhaus standard
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as PDF This energy efficient solar home and office designed by bere:architects situated at Newington Green in the London Borough of Islington intends to set a standard for future housing with an apparently effortless amalgamation of environmentally responsible solutions with beautiful forms. The Muse is located immediately behind a terrace of four Grade 1 listed heritage houses, the four roofs form a garden oasis of entirely native planting including a hawthorn thicket, a hazel woodland and a wild flower meadow. A primary objective of this project is to redefine the language of architecture by the development of forms that are directly generated by the acceptance of the ecological imperatives of the 21st century
The Muse - a new build close to Passivhaus standard : Project images
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Energy and fuel use
Measured data from renewable generation is not yet available.
Fuel use
| Pre-development | Forecast | Measured | |
| Electricity use | - | - | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas use | - | - | - |
| Oil use | - | - | - |
| LPG use | - | - | - |
| Wood use | - | - | - |
| Other Fuel | - | - | - |
| Pre-development | Forecast | Measured | |
| Primary energy requirement | - | - | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual CO₂ emissions | - | - | - |
| Annual space heat demand | - | 24 kWh/m².yr | - |
Renewable energy
| Electricity generation | Forecast | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Renewables Technology | - | - |
| Other Renewables Tech | - | - |
| Electricity consumed by generation | - | - |
| Primary energy requirement offset by renewable generation | - | - |
| Annual CO₂ emissions offset by renewable generation | - | - |
Calculation and targets
| Whole house energy calculation method | |
|---|---|
| Other whole house calculation method | - |
| Energy target | AECB Silver |
| Other energy targets | - |
| Forecast heating load | - |
Airtightness
| Date | Result | |
| Pre-development air permeability test | - | - |
|---|---|---|
| Final air permeability test | - | - |
Project description
| Stage | Occupied |
|---|---|
| Start date | 01 June 2003 |
| Occupation date | |
| Location | London London England |
| Build type | New build |
| Building sector | Private Residential |
| Property type | Detached |
| Construction type | Masonry Cavity |
| Other construction type | |
| Party wall construction | |
| Floor area | 192 m² |
| Floor area calculation method | Treated Floor Area (PHPP) |
| Building certification |
Project Team
| Organisation | bere:architects |
|---|---|
| Project lead person | bere:architects |
| Landlord or Client | Justin Bere |
| Architect | bere:architects |
| Mechanical & electrical consultant | |
| Energy consultant | |
| Structural engineer | Mervyn Rodrigues |
| Quantity surveyor | Andrew Turner |
| Consultant | |
| Contractor | G & U Form Ltd |
Design strategies
| Planned occupancy | 8 people |
|---|---|
| Space heating strategy | Mechanical heat recovery ventilation (with under floor heating on the ground floor). |
| Water heating strategy | Solar hot water (with gas condensing boiler top up). |
| Fuel strategy | Mains Gas. |
| Renewable energy strategy | Photovoltaics and solar thermal. |
| Passive Solar strategy | The building envelope opens towards the South to maximise solar gain. |
| Space cooling strategy | Natural cross and stack ventilation with tilting windows to provide a secure means of night ventilation. A high level of thermal mass on the ground floor aids with cooling in summer. |
| Daylighting strategy | All living areas including the office, kitchen and living room are located on the upper floors and the bedrooms and bathrooms are located in the ground floor to minimise artificial lighting. |
| Ventilation strategy | Mechanical heat recovery ventilation in the winter and natural ventilation with extract only ventilation in the bathroom in the Summer. |
| Airtightness strategy | Tyvek Membrane used through out with taped joints. |
| Strategy for minimising thermal bridges | The project aimed to maintain a continuous insulated envelop throughout the building in order to achieve a bridge-free construction. |
| Modelling strategy | |
| Insulation strategy | High levels of insulation ensure high levels of comfort. |
| Other relevant retrofit strategies | |
| Contextual information |
Building services
| Occupancy | 8 people |
|---|---|
| Space heating | In the 2008/09 winter, the Muse needed additional heating over a period of two months (from 21/12/08 - 22/02/09) and this only one hour per day. The additional heat was sufficient to guarantee a comfortable temperature throughout the day. |
| Hot water | The boiler is located in the bathroom in order to minimise heat loss from pipe work. 60% of the hot water is heated by the solar collector. |
| Ventilation | Heat recovery: Ubbink HR Grande Heat recovery efficiency: 83%. The air is extracted in the kitchen and in the bathrooms. The air supply is located in the office and living room as well as in the bedrooms. |
| Controls | |
| Cooking | Gas hob and gas oven |
| Lighting | 100% low energy lighting |
| Appliances | All appliances are A+ rated. |
| Renewable energy generation system | Photovoltaic and solar hot water (60% of DHW) |
| Strategy for minimising thermal bridges | The construction details have been developed according to a thermal bridge-free approach. |
Building construction
| Storeys | 3 |
|---|---|
| Volume | 553m³ |
| Thermal fabric area | 631 m² |
| Roof description | Well insulated (Celotex) green roofs with native wild flower meadows. |
| Roof U-value | 0.10 W/m² K |
| Walls description | Celcon 9N blockwork with rockwool insulation, and a brick outer leaf. |
| Walls U-value | 0.12 W/m² K |
| Party walls description | |
| Party walls U-value | - |
| Floor description | Insulated (floormate) concrete slab, partly underground. |
| Floor U-value | 0.35 W/m² K |
| Glazed doors description | Triple glazing and insulated door frames. |
| Glazed doors U-value | 1.00 W/m² K installed |
| Opaque doors description | |
| Opaque doors U-value | - uninstalled |
| Windows description | Triple glazed windows with insulated frames |
| Windows U-value | 0.80 W/m² K installed |
| Windows energy transmittance (G-value) | - |
| Windows light transmittance | - |
| Rooflights description | Triple glazed rooflights |
| Rooflights light transmittance | - |
| Rooflights U-value | - |