As part of Muswell Hill Sustainability Group's Green Open Homes season: an annual opportunity to see sustainable domestic energy in situ, be inspired by emissions & energy reducing measures and pick brains for lived experiences and expert advice …

A 50-minute tour and Q&A opportunity with the hosts of a 1960’s mid-terrace and their architects Daniel Woolfson and David Ben-Grunberg from DHaus Architects.

The hosts had lived in the house for 30 years before retrofitting their ground floor, remodelling the kitchen, installing an ASHP and improving insulation and glazing.

The result is a stunning, energy efficient space, which DHaus Architects describe as “an experiment with passive design, a homage to Arts & Crafts - a movement that emphasised the use of high-quality, sustainable materials and ethical production practices - and an experiment to use the latest digital fabrication technology to see if it would be possible with an Arts & Crafts design, which is typically opposite.”

The tour will include ...

• Mitsubishi Ecodan Air Source Heat Pump
• Triple glazed combi Aluclad windows
• Underfloor heating
• Passive house rated insulation
• 11 x Solar Panels and 2 x Batteries
• Growatt MIN 3.6kW TL-XH 1ph Hybrid Inverter (inc DC switch) inverter
• Growatt APX HV 5.0P-B1 Battery Module (5kWh gross capacity)
• Trina Vertex S+ 445W Dual Glass N-Type (Clear Backsheet) solar panel


CREDITS …
Architects – Daniel Woolfson & David Ben-Grunberg - DHaus Architects
Eco Consultant – Bertie Dixon - Inside Outside Engineering Ltd
ASHP – C&A Engineering
Triple Glazing – Oakmont


THE HOMEOWNERS say …
“We have lived in our 1960’s terrace house for thirty years. We love the house, it’s location and living in Muswell Hill. It has been a great place to bring up our three children. But the house was also cold, poorly insulated and the kitchen small and cramped. The large single glazed picture windows looking out onto our north facing garden made the ground floor of the house difficult and expensive to heat.

Our intention was to extend the ground floor, redesign the kitchen and put in underfloor heating and triple glazing. We wanted to become ASHP ready, but it wasn’t our plan to actually install an ASHP. However, the cost of moving gas meters, the need to replace the old gas, and the availability of grant funding meant that this became a viable option.

We worked with DHaus architects to re-design and retrofit the ground floor of the house. The works started in mid 2023 and took approximately nine months for the main work and another three for the finishing elements. We installed the solar panels (11 of them) and two batteries a year later in 2025.”


TOUR DATES available for this house …
Sunday 8th November: 11am


PLEASE NOTE …
Tours will begin promptly at their start times
Full addresses will be emailed to those with booked tickets the day before the tour
If fully booked, a waiting list can be joined, and notice given to the first names on it if tickets are released and reallocated. If you can no longer use your booked ticket, please cancel it through WeGotTickets, so that it can be re-homed.


ABOUT … Green Open Homes
For 14 years, Muswell Hill Sustainability Group has been running a three-week Green Open Homes season every November, including expert speaker meetings on a range of energy efficiency topics, and tours of a cross section of 10 – 15 local homes that have been future-proofed against heat, cold, energy bills and emissions, amongst other climate change threats. They range from quick fixes to major installations to entire builds, with the intention of offering unbiased, experienced and – where installers are present - expert advice; to inspire, inform and encourage visitors considering similar.

MHSG is pleased to be presenting Green Open Homes this year in collaboration with Muswell Hill & Fortis Green Association, a long-standing (78 years!), independent, non-partisan amenity society, committed to protecting the local environment and quality of life across Muswell Hill, Fortis Green, and Alexandra ward.