Accessible Living

Here’s How Aging In Place and What a CAPS Professional Can Do for You and Your Home


A Safe, Accessible Home for All Abilities and Ages

If you’re like the majority of Americans over the age of 45, you want to continue living in a familiar environment throughout your maturing years. According to the AARP, older homeowners overwhelmingly prefer to age in place, which means living in your home safely, independently and comfortably, regardless of age or ability level.

The NAHB Remodelers of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in collaboration with the NAHB Research Center, NAHB 50+ Housing Council, and AARP developed the Certified Aging-In-Place Specialist (CAPS) program to address the growing number of consumers that will soon require these modifications. While most CAPS professionals are remodelers, an increasing number are general contractors, designers, architects, and health care consultants.
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Historic Renovation/Restoration

Updating Your Pre-1978 Home and Lead Safe Work Practices

You’ve finally made the decision to finally remodel the outdated kitchen and family room of your home. Yeah! But if you live in a house built before 1978, a federal law regulating the removal of lead paint may affect your home remodeling project.

In 1978, the use of lead paint was officially banned from residential construction. Before that, however, lead paint was used in more than 38 million homes, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Green Remodeling

Why is “Green” remodeling becoming more relevant?

Wood-Duck-1Green remodeling is often referred to as the use of sustainable building material resources. Popular examples of these materials are found in formaldehyde free plywood and particle board used in cabinet construction and counter top substrates, flooring alternatives like cork and bamboo, building materials including paint, finishes, and carpeting with low volatile organic compounds, (VOC’s), and lumber harvested from certified sustainable forests. However, green is much more than the raw materials used in remodeling construction.

The relevance of green remodeling is driven by many influencing factors; consumers’ acknowledgement of their ecological responsibility and stewardship, depleting natural resources, savvy marketing by manufacturers, and an expanding knowledge base and availability of alternatives to traditional building materials. For now though, it is the cost of and the conservation energy and water that is creating the most profound impact on the relevance of being green.

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