In 2004, Denham Springs builder and owner of Expand Inc. Tom Ashley Jr. made a decision to become a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist, traveling to Houston to gain the National Association of Home Builders’ special designation.
As Business Report details in a new feature in the current issue, the veteran builder believed the CAPS certification would give him a leg up with aging baby boomers, a demographic he felt would be clamoring to adapt their residences as they faced their golden years.
It didn’t exactly pan out.
“I couldn’t give the idea away,” recalls Ashley, who was then just the second builder in Louisiana to achieve the designation. “I’d sit at my booth at homebuilder shows and no one would come by. The public just wasn’t ready for it.”
Now, things have changed. Aging-in-place design is on the minds of a growing number of consumers around the country and in Baton Rouge, some of whom are building “forever homes” they hope to never leave. Others are hiring builders to make adjustments to their homes to accommodate family members with compromised mobility, including aging parents who visit, or spouses within the home.
“Demand is way up,” says Ashley, who recently won NAHB’s Certified Aging in Place Specialist Designee of the Year award from among the more than 5,000 U.S. builders with CAPS certification, of which approximately 3,000 are active. “The public is just a lot more educated, and there are so many more design options. It’s not just about stainless steel grab bars that make your house look like a hospital.”
Today, NAHB estimates that more than 70% of homeowners completing a remodeling project are incorporating aging-related improvements along the way. The trend shows no signs of slowing down.
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