Client: MUSE Global School, CA

Challenge: Incorporate a carbon-neutral lighting source to help reach its net-zero energy goal

Results: Carbon-free, top-down daylighting brings the school closer to its net zero energy goal and creates a more pleasant study and work environment that only natural daylight can bring

Product: 56 Solatube Daylighting Systems 

(41) Brighten Up Series 290DS units
(15) SolaMaster Series 750DS-O units

Architect: Darren Moore, Ecovations Lifestyle Inc.

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BACKGROUND: Located in the Santa Monica Mountains in Calabasas, California, the MUSE School is an internationally recognized, award-winning holistic private school, serving preschool to 12th-grade students. The innovative school incorporates student-centered learning with an underlying environmental philosophy that infuses all aspects of the school’s instruction and character.

Founded in 2006 by Suzy Amis Cameron, her husband, James Cameron, and her sister, Rebecca Amis, the state-of-the-art educational facility is a beacon of sustainable living and design and one of the country's greenest schools.

CHALLENGE: Sustainability is one of the school’s top values. Every aspect of the design and construction was focused on green materials and recycled elements to meet its zero-waste strategy and net-zero energy goal. One of the biggest challenges for the project was finding a carbon-free daylighting source that would provide enough natural light to eliminate the use of artificial lights throughout the day without not making the school hot.

SOLUTION: To achieve the net-zero goal, Cameron hired Ecovations Lifestyle Inc., a design and architectural firm with a history of projects centered around lifestyle education, building performance, health, carbon reduction, zero waste and resource conservation.

In keeping with its focus on conservation and the environment, Ecovations used 56 Solatube Daylighting Systems throughout the buildings and 22-acre campus to reduce the need for artificial lighting throughout the day. Forty-one Brighten Up Series 290 DS units and 15 SolaMaster Series 750-DS-O units were used to pipe optimal amounts of pure, natural light indoors with minimal heat gain.

RESULTS: Through the carefully planned daylighting design, the MUSE school is now brimming with beautiful, diffused daylight in every classroom, inspiring students and creating a better, healthier learning environment. 

MUSE founder Suzy Amis Cameron explained the results. 

“We use Solatube Daylighting Systems that provide natural light to brighten up our classrooms, and you know what? We absolutely love them. You will look around, and it will be bright inside, and no electric lights will be turned on at all. The Solatubes use zero electricity and emit no CO2. Carbon-free lighting takes us one step closer to our net zero energy goal.”

Solatube Daylighting Systems also helps promote and share the school’s mission. 
 
Cameron explains, “The students will come in with their parents, point to the circles in the ceiling, and go, “Look! It’s the sun!” and go home and talk with their families about the eco-features we have around the campus. 
 
“The Solatube Daylighting Systems make a more pleasant study and work environment that only natural daylight can bring. And it truly encourages a feeling of well-being for the student and our teachers,” Cameron continued. “We believe that classroom designs strongly affect learning and achievement, and by bringing in natural light, we can improve the quality of life for our community. A huge thank you to Solatube for their help in creating a new standard in sustainable learning at MUSE and around the world.”