Sustainable Housing in Aged Care Facilities

Abstract

Australia's aging population is increasingly in need of age and needs appropriate housing, in addition to the adaptions to the family home to accommodate aging in place. New aged care/retirement focused housing developments are becoming more prevalent, yet sustainable in their design and planning is yet to gain the significance it deserves. There is currently limited policy direction to encourage multi-housing/communal housing developments that focus on sustainability as a guiding principal, and even less example of them being created in Australia. The motivation to increase sustainability in the planning and development of aged care and retirement housing is embedded in the knowledge that energy and water prices will continue to rise along with the cost of living in most cities in the industrial world. Governments have a significant role in establishing the policy framework to guide the development of more sustainable housing for Australia's aging population. This paper seeks to establish an understanding of resource using in the aged care sector through an examination of a case study site, what capacity exists within the case study to reduce resource use and in particular engergy and water, and ultimately add to the research in this important atea. Using case study methodology and observational analysis, an aged care facility in Perth, WA has been investigated to understanding the underlying environmental, social and economic sustainability of the site compared to what the literature suggests are the minimum requirements in the planning and development of multi-housing with regard to sustainability, and development recommendations for future policy.