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eAsyLiving home, virginiA
The Home Builders Association
of Virginia has continued to support
EasyLiving Home, a voluntary
certification program designed to
encourage builders to include design features in
new homes which provide homeowners with ease
of movement and convenience during any stage
in life. A home with EasyLiving Home features
not only promotes a homeowner’s ability to age
in place but also supports the active lifestyle attractive
to today’s home buyers.
EasyLiving Homes are accessible and convenient
for people of all generations and lifestyles. Homeowners
can comfortably entertain friends, relatives
and neighbors, confident that their home provides
easy access for individuals with mobility support
needs—such as a cane, walker or wheelchair. New
parents navigating a baby carriage into the house,
the weekend athlete on crutches due to a sprained
ankle or the baby boomer using a wheelchair while
recovering from hip surgery will all appreciate
the convenience and safety of wider doorways, a
Convenient pull-out shelves can be a feature of a kitchen
in an EasyLiving Home. (Photo courtesy of Stephen
Thomas Homes.)
Leading the charge
a home for all reasons
zero-step entry and ample space in the hallways
and bathrooms.
The demographics are compelling. With approximately
70 million baby boomers in the United
States and an estimated 49.7 million people nationally
having some type of mobility challenge, along with
wounded war veterans returning home every day,
designing homes with easy access, easy living and
easy use will expand your market. Homeowners
are partial to features that offer easy movement
throughout their homes, regardless of age, size
or physical ability. Builders can benefit from the
marketing potential of having EasyLiving Home
certification attached to their products.
The Virginia Livable Home Tax Credit also can
provide a financial incentive. This program is designed
to improve accessibility and universal visitability in
Virginia’s residential units by providing state tax credits
for the purchase of new units or the retrofitting of
existing housing. Tax credits are available for up to
$5,000 for the purchase/construction of a new accessible
residence and up to 50 percent for the cost
of retrofitting existing units, not to exceed $5,000.
The EasyLiving Home program is also endorsed
by the Virginia Housing Development Authority,
AARP Virginia and the Virginia Board for People
with Disabilities.
EasyLiving Home certification guarantees that
the home has been built to exacting specifications
and meets the necessary criteria to qualify the home
as EasyLiving. For a home to become certified,
contractors must be registered as an EasyLiving
Home builder and obtain a third-party inspection.
To learn more about the HBAV-backed Easy
Living Home program and how to become an
EasyLiving Home builder, please visit www.elhomes.
org or contact Rhonda Allison at rallison@hbav.com
or (804) 643-2797. HBAV
EasyLiving Homes incorporate
Universal Design elements,
such as step-free entrances, that
make housing cost effective and
convenient for both owners and
visitors. (Photo courtesy
of Martin P. Schwind
Contractor Inc.)
An easyliving Home
includes these three
important design features:
• A step-free entrance with a
threshold of not more than onehalf
inch from a driveway, sidewalk
or firm route into the main
floor of the home.
• A minimum of 32 inches of clear
passage space for every interior
passage door on the main floor,
including bathrooms, and the exterior
door to the step-free entrance.
• The main floor of an EasyLiving
Home must include at least one
bedroom, a kitchen, an entertainment
area and one full bathroom
with sufficient maneuvering space
all on the main floor.
HBaV annual RepoRt 2012 27