Retiring Green

As much as we talk about the costs of retiring, it’s interesting to note that cost doesn’t simply refer to the money involved in purchasing a dream retirement.

Now that the oldest Baby Boomers are old enough to be thinking about retirement, many of them have the notion that their retirement lifestyle should be green, or environmentally sustainable. This shouldn’t be terribly surprising since they practically invented the Green Movement - don’t email, we’re not ignoring Muir and the other notables of Environmental History, we’re just making the point that Boomers are green, have been since before the first Earth Day, and have the socio-political clout to make it a priority, okay?

Sadly, this keen interest has led some homebuilders and developers to attempt to attract Boomers without really delivering a sustainable product. They cloud the issue by

using language suggesting environmental sensitivity without pointing to anything tangible in their product to support the claim. Environmentalists call the practice "Greenwashing"

Fortunately, a “green” standard has been developed for private homes. It’s called the LEED certification standards. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit, non-government entity that seeks to change the way buildings and communities are designed, built, and operated.

www.usgbc.org

The standard for private homes is in its pilot phase, but the commercial green standard has been implemented nationwide. While you’re looking at glossy brochures of 55+ Active Adult Retirement Communities, look at the communal buildings in the development you and see if those meet the LEED standards, which are in a nutshell, any community or home that

• Meets or beats the EPA’s Energy Star standards www.energystar.gov

• Achieves high standards of indoor air quality

• Uses building materials that are locally produced and or/recycled

• Incorporates water conservation and storm water management

• Achieves a minimal footprint on the land

• Keeps carbon emissions low through use of renewable energy or super-efficient building envelopes

Another good way to ensure that you’re retiring green is to look into regions or cities that are in the forefront of green practices. Redmond, Washington is a good example. Smarter Cities, a project of the Natural Resources Defense Council calls Redmond “a city to watch” because its bike friendly, has good mass transit, and the city promotes green building and native species yard care.

While you’re looking around Redmond, check out Trilogy at Redmond Ridge. Trilogy is an active adult 55+ community that’s built by Shea Homes. Trilogy homes are Shea Green Certified, which is not only environmentally sound, but will save homeowners about $1800 per year in utility costs.

If you’ve never heard of Shea Homes, rest assured that they’ve been on the forefront of Green Building Practices since long before it became trendy. In 2008, they were the first national builder to make solar power systems an included option on new homes, and

all Shea Green Certified homes are built with a combination of the most important and cost-effective standards for green residential building set by LEED.

In addition to solar power systems, features often incorporated by Shea Homes include solar attic fans, wood from sustainable forests, framing techniques that use up to 10 percent less wood (saving 5.5 trees per home), leak minimizing construction techniques (sealed ducts and penetrations), Energy Star-rated efficient appliances, 14 SEER air conditioning units, dual pane low-e windows, and motion and occupancy sensor lighting.

One poll commissioned by Harris Interactive/Trilogy by Shea Homes found that baby boomers “rank solar technology as the single most important feature of a green home, followed by energy-efficient appliances and dual pane windows.”

In September 2008, J.D. Power and Associates ranked Trilogy by Shea Homes highest in customer satisfaction among the largest active adult community new home builders in 33 U.S. markets. Trilogy's green homes exceed the International Energy Code for energy efficiency by approximately 30 percent, and they undergo 20 different tests and inspections by an independent third party to achieve their green certification.

So if you’re serious about your commitment to that Green Retirement, take a good look at Trilogy Redmond Ridge.

Finding Your Retirement Value

Active Adult Communities in California

Since a lot of the discussion about retirement centers around costs these days, lets just confront the issue head on; how do you define “Value”?

All too often the comparison between two options comes down to “price” when it should come down to value. If you happen to be one of the few people in the world for whom money is no object, you might decide simply to buy the most expensive home you could find – just because you can. If you don’t really love the location, then there’s arguably no real value to the purchase. Price wasn’t a factor, but who the heck wants to live in an area they don’t like?

Of course, for most of us, money is an object. It’s a major aspect of our decision-making. For a lot of us, taking the opposite tack is our default choice. We might choose a “more affordable” retirement home because it’s actually more affordable.

Funny thing is, you end up in the same position as the first example – totally unhappy with where you live and having wasted a lot of money. Considering that we’re discussing retirement home purchasing here, such unhappiness could seriously affect the rest of your life - or maybe that’s too dramatic.

Or IS it? First things first; if you’re going to enjoy retirement and really make it your life’s next big adventure, you have to decide where you want to be. Ideally, you’d have an idea of where to be and what to do when you’re there – but in the interest of keeping it simple, let’s start with place.

For example, you might generally want to be in California. Maybe you have an affinity for wine country. You start looking around and find the central coast, and see a really nice community called Trilogy Central Coast near Nipomo. Trilogy is a beautifully designed 55+ active adult community and like most of us, you’re pretty excited by the idea. Then you find out listings there are between somewhere over $450K to somewhere over $800K. Depending on your life experience, you might either go into sticker shock or just shrug and say, “Well, that’s California.”

And yes, that is California. But before you write it off as an option and look elsewhere, it does bear taking the time to understand the value of what you get for the money. It’s true that $450K will buy you a lot of house in most states, but are we really prepared to compare retirement lifestyles by square footage?

Look at the California Central Coast this way; where else are you going to find a thriving coastal community, surrounded by a dramatic backdrop of vineyards, beaches and hot springs? Where else puts both San Francisco and Los Angeles within a few hours drive?

Imagine being located a mere hour away from exploring the Santa Ynez wine country, or Shopping & Dining in Santa Barbara. Imagine being able to randomly pick day trips to several of the Historic California Missions or the Los Padres National Forest, the Pismo Dunes Natural Preserve, or Montana De Oro State park. Consider that every October to February you can stroll among the thousands and thousands of Monarch butterflies in the Eucalyptus grove at Pismo Beach.

The reality is that the California Central Coast is a truly unique place that is highly desirable – and by California standards it really isn’t that expensive. In addition, when you look closely at Trilogy Central Coast you also find that you’re buying an exceptional value for the price beyond the location.

Trilogy Central Coast features contemporary design, green building practices, and a community plan that focuses on wellness and community. Amenities include The Monarch Club, which won the 2009 Gold Nugget Grand Award for architecture, and the lush, green Monarch Dunes Golf Course. You end up with a dream retirement in resort style living in one of the most amazing parts of California – and those green building practices end up translating into lower monthly costs, so your dollars can be put to better use, which adds to your overall retirement value. At the very least, have a conversation with your real estate agent, or contact the nice people at Trilogy directly – know exactly what your options are by value – not just price, and put together a retirement lifestyle you’ll actually enjoy living.