Sustainable, Visitable, and Universal by Design
“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.” Frank Gehry
Universal design and “visitability” are practical and sustainable principles and practices that enable persons of all abilities to live independently in our changing world. These approaches are particularly important given the dramatic demographic and environmental changes of this century. Life expectancy is continuing to rise and the age distribution of the population in the United States is steadily growing older. Non-renewable resources and open space are dwindling. Extreme weather that used to occur every hundred years is increasing in frequency and taking a heavy toll on public health and on the health of our planet.
By applying the principles of universal design and visitability, we can do much to improve our quality of life, minimize our environmental footprint, and make our homes and communities more resilient.
This post looks more closely at the principles of universal design and visitability; the demographic and environmental challenges that can be addressed through their implementation; and steps that have been taken to promote sustainable and independent spaces and places. It also includes examples from the U.S. EPA Awards Program, Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging (BHCAA), presented between 2006 and 2001 to 21 communities, to illustrate what can be done and has been done to promote independence and environmentally sound living places.
What are Universal Design and Visitability?
Universal design considers the strength, grip, and size of the inhabitants. But it is not only the disabled who benefit from universal design—the young and old also share the need of having structures within reach and easy to use. The child turning on a light switch, the elder with arthritis opening a door, and a person in a wheelchair moving about in a home all benefit from universal design. It’s not a new concept. In 1961, the first accessibility standard, “Making Buildings Accessible to and Usable by the Physically Handicapped,” was issued by what today is known as American National Standards Institute, or ANSI. Over the next decade, it was adopted by a number of local and state governments.
Another important design concept that enables people to live independently and visit friends is visitability. Eleanor Smith, who recently retired from the organization she founded, Concrete Change, defines visitability as, “a movement to change home construction practices so that virtually all new homes offer a few specific features making the home easier for mobility-impaired people to live in and visit.”
To make standards clear enough to affect widespread policy, the visitability movement focuses on a short list of features that most directly impact the quality of life. These include physical features such as at least one zero-step entrance approached by an accessible route on a firm surface no steeper than 1:12, proceeding from a driveway or public sidewalk; 32 inches or more passage space through doors; and at least one half-bath on the main floor.
In illustrating such features, she describes how people are affected when they are left out, which cause, “daily drudgery; unsafe living conditions; social isolation; and forced institutionalization.” The good news is that incorporating the short list of visitability features costs far less and is better for the environment if included in original building construction, avoiding barriers that negatively impact quality of life. A report published in the Journal of the American Planning Association found that during the lifetime of a house built in 2000, there is more than a 60% chance that it will be occupied by a resident with a long-term, severe mobility impairment.
Smith uses the analogy of seat belts to illustrate the importance and relevance of incorporating visitability features when building residential structures. Seat belts are universal components found in every car because we don’t know which car will end up in an accident. Visitability i