Justin Bere

Last updated

Justin Bere
NationalityBritish
Alma materCanterbury College of Art
OccupationArchitect
Practicebere:architects
BuildingsMayville Community Centre
Camden Passive House
Welsh Futureworks Housing
London Bridge Staircase
Lark Rise Passive House

Justin Bere is a British architect based in London. He is founder of his own practice bere:architects and has developed a specialism in low energy passive house (Passivhaus) buildings, resulting in the first certified passive house building in London in 2010. [1] In 2012 he was named one of the most influential people in UK sustainability by Building Design magazine. [2]

Contents

Education and early career

Following a childhood spent in East Africa, England and Northern Ireland, Bere studied architecture at the Canterbury College of Art (now University for the Creative Arts). [3] Upon graduation, he worked for a range of architectural firms, including Sir Michael Hopkins & Partners (now Hopkins Architects), before establishing his own firm in 1994.

Practice and research

Bere established his practice, bere:architects, in 1994. Since its inception bere:architects has focused on low-energy buildings, and was amongst the first UK adopters of the Passive House (Passivhaus) design standard. Bere:architects has developed a distinctive practice model combining design-led architectural practice with environmental and building performance research. This has included working with University College London (‘UCL’) and Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board, ‘TSB’) to produce and publish a number of detailed building performance and post-occupancy evaluation reports. [4]

Bere is considered an authority on low-energy design and was named as one of the top 50 most influential people in UK sustainability, by Building Design magazine in 2012. [2] He sat on the RIBA’s Sustainable Futures advisory group from 2010 to 2016. [5] Bere also regularly speaks and advocates on sustainability in the built environment. He has been a guest speaker at the Passivhaus Institute’s International Passivhaus Conference in 2011 on the topic of ‘Cost effective solutions to social housing’ [6] and in 2012 on the topic of ‘Operational performance of a Community Centre in London refurbished to the Passivhaus standard.’ [7] He has been on the judging panel for the CIBSE awards in 2016 and 2017. [8] He is the author of An Introduction to Passive House.

Notable projects

Project NameImageLocationCompletion DateAwards
The Muse [9]
The Muse Bere-architects the-muse.jpg
The Muse
London, UKOngoing self-build, started 2004
  • Archant Environmental Award 2009, winner
Welsh Futureworks Housing (Larch House and Lime House) [10]
Welsh Futureworks Housing (Larch House, left, and Lime House, right) Bere-architects welsh-futureworks-housing.jpg
Welsh Futureworks Housing (Larch House, left, and Lime House, right)
Ebbw Vale, Wales2010
  • Passive House Certified [11] [12]
  • Larch House – Sustainable Housing Awards 2011, winner
  • Larch House – RICS Wales Award 2011, winner
  • Larch House – Constructing Excellence Wales 2011, winner
Mayville Community Centre [13]
Mayville Community Centre Bere-architects mayville-community-centre.jpg
Mayville Community Centre
London, UK2011
  • Passive House Certified [14]
  • Architects Journal Retrofit Award 2011, winner [15]
  • Green Build Leisure Award 2012, winner [16]
  • Constructing Excellence London and South-East 2012, winner [16]
  • UK Passivhaus Awards 2012, winner [16]
  • Energy Efficiency and Renewables Awards 2013, winner
Lark Rise
Lark Rise Bere-architects Lark Rise.jpg
Lark Rise
Buckinghamshire, UK2015
  • Passive House Plus Certified [17]
London Bridge Staircase [18]
London Bridge Staircase Bere-architects london-bridge-staircase.jpg
London Bridge Staircase
London, UK2016

Publications

Related Research Articles

BedZED Housing development

Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) is an environmentally friendly housing development in Hackbridge, London, England. It is in the London Borough of Sutton, 2 miles (3 km) north-east of the town of Sutton itself. Designed to create zero carbon emissions, it was the first large scale community to do so.

Green building Architecture designed to minimize environmental and resource impact

Green building refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This requires close cooperation of the contractor, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages. The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. In doing so, the three dimensions of sustainability, i.e., planet, people and profit across the entire supply chain need to be considered.

Low-energy house House designed for reduced energy use

A low-energy house is characterized by an energy-efficient design and technical features which enable it to provide high living standards and comfort with low energy consumption and carbon emissions. Traditional heating and active cooling systems are absent, or their use is secondary. Low-energy buildings may be viewed as examples of sustainable architecture. Low-energy houses often have active and passive solar building design and components, which reduce the house's energy consumption and minimally impact the resident's lifestyle. Throughout the world, companies and non-profit organizations provide guidelines and issue certifications to guarantee the energy performance of buildings and their processes and materials. Certifications include passive house, BBC - Bâtiment Basse Consommation - Effinergie (France), zero-carbon house (UK), and Minergie (Switzerland).

Passive house Type of house

Passive house is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, which reduces the building's ecological footprint. It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling. A similar standard, MINERGIE-P, is used in Switzerland. The standard is not confined to residential properties; several office buildings, schools, kindergartens and a supermarket have also been constructed to the standard. Passive design is not an attachment or supplement to architectural design, but a design process that integrates with architectural design. Although it is principally applied to new buildings, it has also been used for refurbishments.

Sustainable architecture Architecture designed to minimize environmental impact

Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sustainable architecture uses a conscious approach to energy and ecological conservation in the design of the built environment.

Zero-energy building Energy efficiency standard for buildings

A Zero Energy Building (ZEB), also known as a Net Zero Energy (NZE) building, or a Zero Net Energy (ZNE) building, is a building with net zero energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site or in other definitions by renewable energy sources offsite, using technology such as heat pumps, high efficiency windows and insulation, and solar panels. The goal is that these buildings contribute less overall greenhouse gas to the atmosphere during operations than similar non-ZNE buildings. They do at times consume non-renewable energy and produce greenhouse gases, but at other times reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas production elsewhere by the same amount. Zero-energy buildings are not only driven by a want to have less of an impact on the environment, but they are also driven by money. Tax breaks as well as savings on energy costs make Zero-energy buildings financially viable. A similar concept approved and implemented by the European Union and other agreeing countries is nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB), with the goal of having all new buildings in the region under nZEB standards by 2020.

Association for Environment Conscious Building Professional association in the United Kingdom

The Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) is the leading network for sustainable building professionals in the United Kingdom. Membership of the AECB includes local authorities, housing associations, builders, architects, designers, consultants and manufacturers. The association was founded in 1989 to increase awareness within the construction industry of the need to respect, protect, preserve and enhance the environment and to develop, share and promote best practice in environmentally sustainable building.

Domestic housing in the United Kingdom presents a possible opportunity for achieving the 20% overall cut in UK carbon dioxide emissions targeted by the Government for 2010. However, the process of achieving that drop is proving problematic given the very wide range of age and condition of the UK housing stock.

Buro Happold is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the environment. It was founded in Bath, Somerset, in 1976 by Sir Edmund Happold when he took up a post at the University of Bath as Professor of Architecture and Engineering Design.

Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers

The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers is an international professional engineering association based in London that represents building services engineers, also commonly known as mechanical and electrical engineers, architectural engineers, technical building services engineers, building engineers, or facilities and services planning engineers. It is a full member of the Construction Industry Council, and is consulted by government on matters relating to construction, engineering and sustainability. It is also licensed by the Engineering Council to assess candidates for inclusion on its Register of Professional Engineers.

Hoare Lea is a UK-based, multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy firm, specialising in building services. The firm works with clients from the detailed design stage right through to delivery.

HDR, Inc. Design firm in engineering, architecture, environmental, and construction services

HDR, Inc. is an employee-owned design firm, specializing in engineering, architecture, environmental, and construction services. HDR has worked on projects in all 50 U.S. states and in 60 countries, including notable projects such as the Hoover Dam Bypass, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, and Roslin Institute building. The firm employs over 10,000 professionals and represents hundreds of disciplines in various markets. HDR is the 10th largest employee-owned company in the United States with revenues of over $2.4 billion in 2017. Engineering News-Record ranked HDR as the 7th largest design firm in the United States in 2019.

Building services engineering is a professional engineering discipline that strives to achieve a safe and comfortable indoor environment whilst minimizing the environmental impact of a building.

The Passivhaus-Institut (PHI) is responsible for promoting and maintaining the Passivhaus building program. The "Passivhaus Institute" was founded in 1996, and is based and active in Darmstadt, Germany.

Vauban, Freiburg

Vauban is a neighbourhood (Stadtteil) to the south of the town centre in Freiburg, Germany. It was built as "a sustainable model district" on the site of a former French military base named after Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, the 17th century French Marshal who built fortifications in Freiburg while the region was under French rule. Construction began in 1998, and the first two residents arrived in 2001.

Patrick Bellew

Patrick Bellew is an environmental engineer, one of United Kingdom’s Royal Designers and a Chartered Building services engineer. He currently works at and is a founding Director of building environmental engineering consultants Atelier Ten. He also lectures at various universities on issues that affect the environment. Atelier Ten has pioneered numerous environmental innovations and it has six offices around the world which are focused on the delivery of high-performance buildings.

Kenneth L. Haggard is an American architect, educator, and solar pioneer who has designed more than 300 buildings and seen more than 200 built. He is a licensed architect in California and Florida. He and his partner Polly Cooper were awarded the American Solar Energy Society Passive Solar Pioneer Award in 1996. They have been leaders in both passive solar architecture and the rediscovery of straw bale building.

A performance gap is a disparity that is found between the energy use predicted and carbon emissions in the design stage of buildings and the energy use of those buildings in operation. Research in the UK suggests that actual carbon emissions from new homes can be 2.5 times the design estimates, on average. For non-domestic buildings, the gap is even higher - actual carbon emissions as much as 3.8 times the design estimates, on average.

Zero heating building

Zero-heating building or nearly zero-heating building (nZHB) is a building having essentially zero heating demand, defined as having heating demand, Q’NH, less than 3 kWh/(m2a). The zero-heating building is intended for use in heating-dominated areas. The purpose of the zero-heating building is to supersede net-zero energy buildings as a way to bring building-related greenhouse gas emissions to zero in the EU. Zero-heating buildings address flawed net-zero energy buildings: the requirement for seasonal energy storage, in some cases poor comfort of living and narrow design options.

References

  1. Miles, Paul (14 February 2014). "How a Brooklyn brownstone became a low-energy passive house". Financial Times . Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 "41-50 of the most influential people in UK sustainability". Building Design . 12 March 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  3. "Unstructured 5".
  4. "Project Gallery". passivhaustrust.org.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  5. "The Sustainable Futures Group". Vimeo. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  6. Conference proceedings. Feist, Wolfgang. [S. l.: s. n.] 2011. ISBN   9783000343964. OCLC   780664199.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. 16th International Passive House Conference 2012 : conference proceedings. Feist, Wolfgang., Passive House Institute (Darmstadt, Germany), International Passive House Conference (16th : 2012 : Hannover, Germany). Darmstadt: Passive House Institute. 2012. ISBN   9783000377204. OCLC   817936289.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. "CIBSE Building Performance Awards Judging Panel". CIBSE. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  9. "Green Building Case Studies in Islington and Beyond" (PDF). Islington Council. 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  10. "Welsh future Homes – The Larch House and Lime House – Design Commission for Wales". dcfw.org. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  11. "Low Energy Buildings Projects". passivhausbuildings.org.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  12. "Low Energy Buildings Projects". passivhausbuildings.org.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  13. "Passivhaus community centre: Mayville by Bere Architects". Architects' Journal. 23 February 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  14. "Low Energy Buildings Projects". passivhausbuildings.org.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  15. "AJBL - bere:architects". www.ajbuildingslibrary.co.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  16. 1 2 3 Consulting, E-Griffin. "Construction Project Work | E-Griffin Consulting | Cambridgeshire, UK - E-Griffin Consulting". www.e-griffin.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  17. "Passivhaus News". passivhaustrust.org.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  18. "London Bridge staircase enhancement works - City of London". www.cityoflondon.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2017.