First Green Certified Remodel of a Historic Carriage House Completed in Lexington Massachusetts

Online, January 24, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The homeowner's retirement dream was to move back to the house where she raised her children. As part of her retirement plan she Hired Sustainable Construction Services to convert the almost 150 year old Carriage house, located in Lexington MA, in to a dwelling unit for guests. Potentially it could also serve as a dwelling unit for a caregiver if needed in the future. The vision established early in the design process was to maintain the history of the structure while updating the structure to todays state-of-the art building standards.

"Conservation, Energy efficiency and Local Materials were a priority to the homeowner so we realized this would be perfect for a LEED for Homes project" says Amelia Glickman, the firms Architectural Designer. "We defined the project's primary goals of using local, non-toxic and low carbon footprint materials."

The barn was big enough to accommodate a covered garage, foyer and Laundry room on the first floor. The second floor features a bedroom, a bathroom with a walking shower and an eat in kitchen open to a living room and a balcony that overlooks the gardens.

In Addition to being a truly environmentally friendly project, The design features plenty of custom elements. The height of the kitchen countertop was customized for the comfort of the homeowner. "The build-in storage unit in the living room is an example of how green design and custom design can really work well together" Says Amelia "This unit was designed with exposed edge plywood to reduce it's carbon foot print, using local woods and non toxic finishes, but that was also a stylistic choice."