As the home design and building industry faces the future, we must confront some stark demographics: by 2030, one in five Americans will be older than 65, and within a few years the number of people 65 and older will outnumber those who are under the age of 18. Further, an AARP survey indicates that 76% of those age 50 and over want to remain in their homes as long as possible.
Adobe Stock/mangpor2004
Rather than designing and building for first-time buyers – many of whom are delaying home purchases – we must increasingly meet the needs of older demographics who desire to “age in place.” While the industry has long understood the value of structural modifications such as ramps, wider doorways, and safer bath fixtures, a wider focus that incorporates new technologies can increase opportunities for an aging population to remain in the residences of their choice.
Designers and builders today have the ability to harness broadband connectivity, artificial intelligence and robotics to transform residential experiences and connect the aging to monitoring, telehealth and telemedicine services. To ensure that we deliver on that promise, however, our professions must rethink current practices and adopt approaches that enable customers to understand how the incremental additional cost for these capabilities can provide long-term value, both in terms of lifestyle and resale potential.
There are three areas in which we need to work to make this shift a reality: identifying and implementing the technologies; education of the residential architecture and construction industry, its workforce and consumers; and partnerships among organizations that can shape design for today’s technologies as well as those that are on industry roadmaps, including the creation of shared standards, best practices and perhaps even building code changes. Let’s examine each of these:
Identification and Implementation
Countless future-looking articles have discussed what’s possible from aging in place solutions, but how do we take these lifechanging applications from concept to reality? Successfully utilizing new technologies, including a new generation of IoT devices, to promote aging in place involves not only selection but also care in design and installation. This includes use of low-latency and highly-secure broadband access technologies, such as the cable industry’s emerging 10G platform, to ensure the type of real-time, reliable connectivity medical and monitoring agencies require.
In addition, central communications hubs in the home and complete home coverage plans should become the norm, so that wireless signals – both Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies – can reach every corner of a property, enabling maximum mobility and resident safety. Extenders should be used only if necessary, as situations can occur in which they might be detrimental to the overall solutions. Designs also should include backup powering provisions to prevent compromised situations in the event of an electrical grid failure.
Education
Driving the technological footprint of aging in place involves educating three audiences: consumers, construction workforces, and designers and builders. First, it is incumbent on our industries to communicate to consumers how broadband-connected devices can improve quality of life for the aging population, open doors to medical care that otherwise would require treatment at a remote facility, and ultimately increase the value of their homes.
Second, our workforce needs to be trained in the proper deployment of technology products to eliminate dead spots and increase utility. And third, we as designers and builders need to recognize that by adding aging in place features, we are increasing the value that we bring to our customers.
Partnership
Because design and construction industry expertise historically has been in creating habitable structures, we sometimes lack subject matter knowledge regarding technology implementation and developments that are on the horizon. In the past, this has resulted in wiring homes for technologies, such as landline twisted pair, that have been intended to meet current needs without a vision of the future.
Working together with an applied science organization can provide us with the insights we need to anticipate future trends and create the standards and best practices needed to integrate them into our work. This article, in fact, is meant to demonstrate the value of bringing together professionals from both industries and be an initial step toward a more meaningful relationship.
While this would be new ground for the industry, it would not be without precedent: we’ve seen over the past four decades how changes in the energy market have driven standards that have dramatically altered how structures are climate controlled and insulated. R11 insulation and four-inch walls have given way to codes calling for R19 and six-inch exterior walls and R38 in attics. Buyers increasingly understand the long-term return on more efficient heating and cooling systems and solar panels. The same long-term view should be applied to broadband connectivity.
In the next 10 to 15 years, our market will inevitably transform as a wave of baby boomers continues into and through their retirement years. By taking the steps above now, we can prepare our industry to meet the needs of the many homeowners who are seeking the comfort of aging in their own homes.
