After working on the renovation for three years, her new sustainable home, located just blocks away from Fairmount Park, became the city’s first “rehab” to receive LEED Platinum certification from LEED for Homes. Slusher’s project wasn’t initially intended to achieve LEED Platinum credentials, according to Grid Magazine: She just wanted to meet her aspirations for sustainable living in “an inviting, comfortable, well-designed home,” she said.

Slusher has since sold the home, nestled in a residential area two blocks from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her experience, however, demonstrates how careful design during home renovations can transformer older, energy-inefficient homes into more sustainable residences.

SmartHome, Sustainable Home

The 1,919-square-foot row house has two bedrooms, two and a half baths, a utility room, a private study, and a separate loft. The spacious kitchen anchors the home and is outfitted with several high-end, energy-efficient appliances, including a built-in coffee maker.

The rooftop gardens drain excess water through a rainwater catchment system that flows into a 500-gallon cistern. The greywater from the showers and sinks throughout the home is also recycled as part of a closed-loop system for flushing toilets and watering the abundant plants growing on both of the rooftop gardens and in the back patio. The combination of the greywater recycling system and the rainwater catchment system connected to a cistern saves at least 5,000 gallons of water per year.