Category: Green Retirement Communities
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 20 - Laundry rooms and energy-saving features such as Energy Star appliances, windows and whole house certification are among the most wanted home features, according to survey results from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). NAHB surveyed nearly 4,000 home buyers--those who have either recently purchased a home or plan to purchase a home within the next three years--ranking 175 features based on how essential they are to a home purchasing decision. The survey was done among home buyers of all ages, so the results might differ somewhat from retiring baby boomers. You might want to keep these in mind whether you are looking for a new home or planning on improving your existing one.
The top 10 features also included home-storage needs, such as garage storage and walk-in pantries, as well as hardwood flooring, a patio and exterior lighting.
Housing trends across the board include a continued decline in the average home size and decreased demand for upscale features such as three-plus-car garages. In 2018, according to information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the average home started declined to 2,576 square feet--down from its peak at 2,689 square feet in 2015--driven in part by increased production in townhouses, which comprised 14 percent of new home starts. Over in the UK, we've been following housing prices fluctuate by using this free tool from TheAdvisory called PropCast.
more...
Published on February 22, 2019
Comments 49
Category: Green Retirement Communities
By Roberta Isleib
December 15, 2105 -- With talks on climate change wrapping up in Paris with an agreement signed between 196 nations, it seems like a good time to consider whether climate change should be factored into choosing your best place to retire. (And to be perfectly honest, one of our regular readers tweaked us recently to write an article on this subject, saying "retirees really need to know how climate change is affecting and will affect their retirement location.")
So we're hoping to set aside political agendas and ideologies today and explore some of the facts about where and how things are changing and how that might inform your retirement choices. Are there locations where you should not plan to retire, either in the near future or down the road? The answer - almost certainly.
The Washington Post reported this week that the president of Kiribati, a pacific nation consisting of 33
more...
Published on December 15, 2015
Comments 91
Category: Green Retirement Communities
November 30, 2105 -- We have just seen the most interesting idea for productive, sustainable retirement living yet. The idea is from an architectural firm called Spark, which won first prize for Future- Experimental Project at the 2015 World Architecture Festival held in Singapore. Their winning project, HomeFarm, is a sustainable residential development for seniors with these clever features:
- Urban apartments in sizes that allow multi-generational living
- Vertical aquaponic farming on the building's exterior walls
- Curvilinear building with central courtyard
- Soil based garden plots on staggered terraces and rooftops
- Use of collected rain water and grey water for farming purposes
- Fruits and vegetable marketplace where residents can sell their wares
- Fish waste as fertilizer
- Agricultural waste is fed into an onsite biomass power plant
Spark hopes to have the first HomeFarm up and running by 2030 in the crowded urban nation of Singapore. The productive garden feature provides a modest income for its elderly residents. HomeFarm was designed to keep its residents connected to the wider community through its public facilities that include a clinic, nursery/child care, farm shop and food court. It also intends to provide a familiar caring family environment for those who require medical care in their later years. It aims to provide a cross section of accommodation for single residents through to
more...
Published on November 30, 2015
Comments 11
Category: Green Retirement Communities
June 16, 2015 -- It is the rare person who doesn't at least give some nod toward being green in various aspects of life. It might only be grudging recycling efforts or turning off some lights, but the spirit is usually there, somewhere. But would you make your environmental concerns a requirement for finding a suitable place to retire?
If there are many people like that out there they are probably having a hard time finding such a place. Using the Advanced Search Feature at Topretirements we found we have 23 communities (out of about 3000) that are self-described as "Sustainable", another way of saying
more...
Published on June 15, 2015
Comments 4
Category: Green Retirement Communities
February 7, 2012 -- When my sister-in-law, the nature writer and environmentalist Susan Cerulean, first proposed a natural burial (also called a green, or conservation burial) for her father, I have to admit there was some serious eye-rolling on my part. And after I heard the scouting report on the first green cemetery she considered, I was even more sceptical. To an outsider the setting seemed undignified, and the people running it appeared more interested in the profit motive than in saving the planet. Fortunately she was able to find another cemetery nearby, a place of great peace and beauty that met all of her objectives for a natural burial.
After experiencing the serene and just about
more...
Published on February 7, 2012
Comments 11
Category: Green Retirement Communities
By Cynthia Booth
If you have ever dreamed of living your retirement in a dream home that is friendly to the planet, this article is for you.
Denis Carpenter recently acquired a small vacant lot and, to achieve his concern for the planet, planned a residence that was environmentally friendly and easy to maintain. Denis hired designers and Jersey City citizens Richard Garber, assistant professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture and Design in Newark, and Nicole Robertson of GRO Architects in New York City to design and oversee the construction of his single-family house. The result is genuine proof of both innovative design and eco-friendly technologies.
What's so special about this home?
- Inside the home, on the ground level, radiant heating beneath the exposed cement floor warms the bath room and bed rooms.
{GOOGLE_AD}
- In the loft-like second level, sleek aluminum and stainless steel railings accent the bamboo stairway to the mezzanine, lounge room and an artfully designed kitchen outfitted with salvaged devices and cabinetry.
more...
Published on September 14, 2010
Comments 0
Category: Green Retirement Communities
Baby boomers looking to retire in a very "green" way often end up being frustrated. The main reason is that most active adult communities are anything but environmentally friendly - they are located far from community centers so they require lots of driving, they don't always use the most energy-efficient materials and systems, and they usually ignore alternative energy sources and low carbon footprints. The alternative for those truly dedicated to the movement is to strike out on their own, which though might be fun, can also be expensive and prone to trial and error.
{GOOGLE_AD}
The Wall Street Journal published an eye-opening article earlier this year on the "Green House of the Future". The Journal asked 4 leading architects to come up with a home design that was environmentally friendly - and possible. The results were amazing:
more...
Published on December 22, 2009
Comments 1
Category: Green Retirement Communities
Interested in building or refitting your retirement home so that it's green? General Electric (GE) announced last month that by 2015 it will have developed the products needed to let new home builders and existing homeowners manage and generate electricity for overall net zero annual energy. If achieved, that means that you will have a zero energy bill! GE will get to that goal through its current portfolio of energy-efficient lighting and appliances products, demand response technology, and residential power generation products like solar PV and residential wind products.
The GE net zero energy home offerings will come from three major groups within the product portfolio: energy efficient products, energy management products and energy generation/storage products.
more...
Published on August 3, 2009
Comments 5
Category: Green Retirement Communities
No, it's not something you add to the wash to get out those pesky grass stains you used to get playing touch football. Nor is it a St. Patty's day breath-freshener. Greenwash is what happens to you when you succumb to a developer who promises you a "green" house in a sustainable community, only to move in and find the Chinese wallboard smells like rotten eggs.
more...
Published on March 31, 2009
Comments 1
Category: Green Retirement Communities
The #1 green priority in baby boomers’ retirement homes is solar power, according to a recent survey. Capitalizing on this interest, Shea Green Certified homes at Trilogy now offers solar powered roofs as a no-cost option in its Victoria Gardens active adult communities. The builder’s website claims savings of up…
more...
Published on October 27, 2008
Comments 0
