Page 57 - Green Builder Magazine March-April 2019 Issue
P. 57
AGING IN PLACE; AGING WITH GRACE
By 2035, one-third of U.S. households will be headed by someone
age 65 or older, and many of these seniors will be living alone. Many
will face decreasing incomes, which will make it more di¡cult to
pay the mortgage and upgrade the home for aging in place. How
Manifold master. Viega offers will people stay connected, independent and safe?
Baby boomers are showing us some of the answers. Their tendency
one-stop shopping, including CREDIT: COURTESY OF VIEGA to question the status quo has not abated with age, and they have
specialized tools for its fittings. the nancial resources to back up their demands.
Many are rejecting “the home” in favor of their homes. According
water. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to AARP, nearly 90 percent of seniors want to stay in their own
(EPA), the average home could save 10,000 gallons per year simply homes as they age. (Ironically, this trend may be adding [https://
by addressing leaks. bit.ly/2UArpd9] to the housing crunch.) Some have taken matters
Flo measures ow, water pressure and temperature, and will send a into their own hands and created their own net-zero, cohousing-style
real-time alert to the homeowner’s phone if a leak is detected. It will communities such as Ankeny Row [https://ankenyrow.wordpress.
also automatically shuts o water in the event of catastrophic failure. com] in Portland, Ore. Others are living in apartment-style housing
The Align Project also features the Viega MiniBloc, a smaller with plenty of amenities and easy access to restaurants, shops and
version of the company’s ManaBloc central plumbing manifold. These classes. And some have downsized into “granny ats” behind their
manifolds, which can be compared to an electric panel, enable a “home grown children’s homes.
run” plumbing design, where each xture has its own dedicated line But there’s a huge
and shuto. This is an advantage for maintenance, as single lines can disparity between those
be shut o without disrupting water supply elsewhere. who can aord to choose
The manifolds also save water and energy. They are plumbed and those who can’t.
with Viega’s PureFlow system, which includes the company’s cross- What option do you
linked polyethylene PEX tubing and press-and-crimp fittings. have if you can’t aord
Dierent xtures can be fed with dierently sized lines; in fact, to design and build your
most can be fed with ⁄-inch or half-inch own development? The
line, compared with larger ⁄-inch supply Align Project oers one
lines typical of branch-and-tee systems. The possibility: small, hyper- CREDIT: DEAN MITCHELL¢ISTOCK
combination of dedicated lines and smaller e¡cient units that can
volumes means that far less water is wasted physically move and
purging lines of cold water—according to change with you. The Health aids. Smart watches with apps that monitor
Voltea DiEntry and the company, up to 40 percent less. home’s Orient smart vital signs and detect falls are among the technologies
helping more people remain independent.
Finally, The Align Project features DiEntry
home platform, with
DiUse residential and DiUse residential water treatment units the integrated Loxone lighting system, is key. The occupant can be
water purification from Voltea. The units rely on a technology involved in programming the home or letting it run on autopilot.
systems with called membrane-capacitive deionization, The system is ready to go as soon as you open the door and ask the
membrane- or CapDI, which is a two-step process that lights to turn on.
Though low-tech and practical solutions such as ramps, grab
removes salts from water.
capacitive CREDIT: COURTESY OF VOLTEA During the purication step, water passes bars and handrails are essential for aging in place, voice-activated
deionization between two oppositely charged electrodes. technologies, programmable devices and “virtual doctors” are
(CapDI) technology The salt ions are attracted to the electrodes, enabling older people and those with disabilities to remain
while the water passes through. Once the independent. Other examples include sensors that detect a person’s
electrodes are saturated with ions, the location and movement, and dispensers that dole out the correct dose
H O here. DiEntry, Voltea’s polarity of the electrodes is reversed and of medication at the right time. And don’t discount the importance
2
residential point-of-use water the ions are released and ushed from the of apps, such as Skype and FaceTime, which can help people stay
treatment system, is low unit. The process recovers up to 95 percent connected with loved ones— isolation and loneliness are as deadly
maintenance, efficient and of the water treated. The percentage of salts as cardiovascular disease.
requires no salts or chemicals.
removed from the water is also “tunable,” So what will the future hold, not only for those nearing the end
meaning users can decide how much salt they want removed. of their lives, but for those just starting out? We’ll likely see an
CapDI can work at high temperatures, unlike reverse osmosis, and it intensication of the trends we’re already seeing now: smaller, more
does not require chemicals or added salts. The technology is applicable exible homes, more sharing of resources and more intergenerational
Viega Eco-Plus WC carrier to water reuse. For example, used laundry water can be recovered and households. Resilient homes that can shelter occupants from disasters
and Duravit toilet treated with CapDI, then used to ush toilets. CapDI can also be used and serve their needs e¡ciently. Will any of it be enough? That will
to remove salts from water destined for cooling towers. be up to us. GB
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