The best time for ageless design is now
How long do you think you’ll live in your home? Will it accommodate you and your family as you age or have a disability?
Recently, Yvonne Bambrick, Greening Homes’ Managing Director, and I completed the Adaptiv Home Design course through the Canada Home Builders Association (CHBA).
This course is new and long overdue. For years we’ve been interested in making homes more accessible to our clients, their families and guests. We’ve witnessed firsthand the need for accessibility among clients and our own family. While books have been written about it, there hasn’t been training for building professionals, until now.
The CHBA course confirmed one thing we know. Many people are uncomfortable talking about and planning for what’s referred to as “aging in place,” so much so that the term is falling out of favour. The preferred phrases are “living in place” and “ageless design.”
The stats collected by the CHBA in its “Adaptiv Home Renovation Manual” paint a compelling picture. Canada is aging. More than half of us are 45 years and older. By 2030, 23 percent of Canadians will be classified as senior citizens, up from 16 percent today.
Of note, most Baby Boomers own a home (77 percent) and plan to renovate rather than move (59 percent).
We want to live in our homes for as long as possible. However, the number one reason seniors move out of their homes is falls. It happens every 13 seconds to an older Canadian, often leading to disability, loss of independence and even death. Younger people are not off the hook. Falls are the third leading cause of injury for them.
One in five Canadians aged 15 and up have a disability.
Ageless design, as the name suggests, accommodates everyone. It’s not only vital for your future self, but your family, friends and any other guest you welcome into your home.
Another impediment to making a home accessible is the belief that adaptive home retrofits are too expensive. However, considering the costs of living in a retirement residence, these upgrades are much less – especially if you include them in a home renovation. This futureproofing can include minor adjustments to adding infrastructure or blocking, such as a shaft for an elevator if needed by you or an elder family member, something we did in one of our latest renovations.
Now that we are CHBA accredited in ageless design, we have started to formalize discussions with clients about it as much as we do about permits, engineering, HVAC and sustainable building practices.
Empathy is key. When working with clients with disabilities, we imagine having severe arthritis and having to open cabinets. Or trying to maneuver around the kitchen in a wheelchair. Or walking down the stairs with a visual disability. What adaptive measures are needed to ensure that their home best works for them?
In cases like these, an occupational therapist would work with the client and us, the builder, to customize adaptive measures to ensure that their unique needs are met.
The most common accessibility and safety modifications are – in this order – grab bars, higher toilets, curbless showers, wider doorways, task lighting and ramps or lower thresholds, according to the U.S. National Association of Home Builders.
These upgrades are both helpful and lifesaving. Lighting upgrades alone can help prevent falls.
A safe and accessible house can be beautiful too, and increase the value of your home when you do want or need to sell it. It can also provide you with peace of mind that you can live safely in your home for as long as possible – which is priceless.
By Christopher Phillips, Founder and President of Greening Homes Ltd.
Top Photo: Curbless Shower – bathroom near completion at whole home renovation and deep energy retrofit in midtown Toronto.
Photos by Yvonne Bambrick.