State of Australian Cities Conference 2013 Sustainable Housing in Aged Care Facilities

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 sustainability 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 principle, 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 use 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 energy and water, and ultimately add to the research in this important area. Using case study methodology and observational analysis, an aged care facility in Perth, WA has been investigated to understand 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 develop recommendations for future policy.

[1]  D. Hes,et al.  Sustainability Uptake in Housing in Metropolitan Australia: An Institutional Problem, Not a Technological One , 2009 .

[2]  Laurie Buys,et al.  The use of amenities in high density neighbourhoods by older urban Australian residents , 2012 .

[3]  Dr Paul Michael Cozens,et al.  ‘Where Have All the Trees Gone?’ Urban Consolidation and the Demise of Urban Vegetation: A Case Study from Western Australia , 2013 .

[4]  Katrina A Cubit,et al.  Aging in Australia. , 2011, The gerontologist.

[5]  Angus Morrison-Saunders,et al.  Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment , 2013 .

[7]  David W. Orr,et al.  The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift , 2005 .

[8]  M. Powell Lawton,et al.  Environment and aging , 1980 .

[9]  S. Dresner.  The principles of sustainability , 2002 .

[10]  Joe Ravetz,et al.  Integrated assessment for sustainability appraisal in cities and regions , 2000 .

[11]  J. Forder,et al.  How can European states design efficient, equitable and sustainable funding systems for long-term care for older people? , 2009 .

[12]  Luc Hens,et al.  Introduction to Sustainability Assessment at the Local Level , 2001 .

[13]  J. Paton.  What's 'Left' of Sustainable Development? , 2008 .

[14]  R. Day.  Environmental Justice and Older Age: Consideration of a Qualitative Neighbourhood-based Study , 2010 .

[15]  Jean Hartley,et al.  Case study research , 2004 .

[16]  Alex Markevich,et al.  The evolution of sustainability , 2009 .

[17]  Veronica Soebarto,et al.  Comfort and energy use in five Australian award-winning houses: regulated, measured and perceived , 2010 .

[18]  G. Brundtland,et al.  Our common future , 1987 .

[19]  R. Yin.  Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .

[20]  Robert B. Gibson,et al.  Sustainability assessment: basic components of a practical approach , 2006 .

[22]  Dimitri Devuyst.  SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT: THE APPLICATION OF A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK , 1999 .

[23]  C. V. Kidd.  The evolution of sustainability , 1992 .

[24]  J. Beard,et al.  Ageing and Urbanization: Can Cities be Designed to Foster Active Ageing? , 2010 .

[25]  Tarja Häkkinen,et al.  Barriers and drivers for sustainable building , 2011 .

[26]  J. Whitney.  Case Study Research , 1999 .

[27]  Angus Morrison-Saunders,et al.  Conceptualising sustainability assessment , 2004 .

[28]  Stephen Morse,et al.  Holism and Understanding Sustainability , 2005 .

[29]  G. H. Brundtland.  World Commission on environment and development , 1985 .

[30]  E. Goldsmith.  A Blueprint for Survival , 1972 .

[31]  L. Hens,et al.  How Green Is the City?: Sustainability Assessment and the Management of Urban Environments , 2001 .

[32]  S. Verderber,et al.  Environment and Aging in Japan , 2005 .

[33]  L. Crabtree.  Sustainability begins at home? An ecological exploration of sub/urban Australian community-focused housing initiatives , 2006 .

[34]  J. Last.  Our common future. , 1987, Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique.