GMT Home Designs, Inc teams up with Sustainable Construction completing first of a kind LEED certified project.

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 along with GMT Home Designs to convert the almost 150 year old Carriage House, located in Lexington, MA into 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 and look of the existing structure while updating the structure to today's state-of-the art building standards.

"Conservation, energy efficiency, and local materials were a priority to the homeowners so we as a team realized this would be perfect for a LEED for Homes Project" says Amelia Glickman, one of the teams designers.  "We defined the projects primary goals of using local, non toxic and low carbon footprint materials."

The barn was big enough to accommodate a covered garage bay, storage, foyer and laundry room on the 1st floor.  The second floor features a bedroom, a bathroom with walk-in shower, an eat-in kitchen open to the 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 built-in storage unit in the living room area is an example of how green design and custom design can mesh together very well.  The unit was designed with exposed edge plywood to reduce its carbon footprint, using local woods and not toxic finishes.