This month, Shea announced the opening of Victoria Gardens, an "active lifestyle," or retirement, development in Florida sandwiched between Orlando and Daytona Beach. The homes were advertised as having a carbon footprint that is 20 percent to 30 percent less than that of a "typical household."

Billed as eco-friendly and energy-wise, the homes feature solar attic fans, green-fiber recycled insulation, motion-sensor-triggered lighting, energy-efficient windows and appliances, and garages outfitted with electric-vehicle charging stations. Shea says it has focused on small, incremental green features that will collectively add up to energy savings.

Housing developments that target baby boomers may be the next big push for the green-housing market, and statistics indicate this could be a good marriage. "There is no doubt that the green trend is going to accelerate more and more," said Rick Andreen, president of Shea Homes Active Lifestyle Communities division, in a recent interview.

Victoria Gardens marks Shea's debut in the Florida retirement market, though the company is building similar homes in Northern and Southern California, Arizona and Washington. The energy-efficient features are considered standard in these homes.

Other retirement communities from Texas to Maine are taking similar steps and adding green features to existing homes. An Army retirement community in San Antonio recently announced plans to install solar hot-water systems in the community's 180 homes. Sea Coast Management Co., which manages retirement communities in Maine, is offering existing residents incentives to install solar hot-water heaters and offering a Toyota Prius and/or a free solar hot-water system to new customers purchasing a home.

Baby boomers, born from 1946 to 1964, grew up alongside the environmental movement of the 1960s and '70s. "These guys were at Woodstock," said Matthew Kahn, a professor at UCLA's Institute of the Environment. "This is the birth cohort that was at the environmental movement's summer of love."

In 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated there were approximately 78.2 million baby boomers in the United States. A December 2007 survey by AARP found that roughly half of all boomers see themselves as environmental stewards, or "green boomers."

Besides being a large swath of the population, boomers are overwhelmingly homeowners. Boomers are also far more affluent than earlier generations of retirees, making it more likely that they will consider paying a premium for environmentally friendly housing features.

Builders have been studying and surveying boomers, and, while this generation is far from homogenous, the industry sees some evidence that today's new wave of environmental concerns and rising energy costs will factor into boomers' housing decisions. Shea started advertising its green active-lifestyle homes in January.

Going green in retirement doesn't have to mean living off the grid or in minimalist space, builders say. That's good since many boomers aren't looking to trade in their current homes for smaller accommodations as they get older, according to a 2007 report on the state of the nation's housing released by Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

How green do boomers want to go when it comes to housing? So far, boomers seem to want to enjoy high-end living in their later years, but they are interested in using less energy in the process.

"What baby boomers are looking for is the Lexus hybrid" rather than the Prius, Andreen said. "Baby boomers are focused first on what they want."

Shea's homes are trying to tap this niche market, blending luxury living with energy efficiency, the company says. The homes being offered include energy-efficient appliances and insulated windows alongside gourmet kitchens and master suites that resemble a "spa-like sanctuary." And like plenty of Florida retirement communities, these homes are also tucked amid hundreds of acres of parkland, and sport an 18-hole golf club and a tennis center.

Boomers interested in a resort-like setting that has some claim to being green are likely to be "well-educated, rich and Barbra Streisand fans," Kahn said. They are also going to be looking for like-minded neighbors and a community that values the same things they do, he added.

Energy efficiency is one topic that boomers are willing to pay an upfront premium for in housing, Andreen said. The green options that now come with Shea's retirement homes add about 5 percent to 8 percent onto the cost of a home.

"They will claim in survey data that they are willing to pay more," but they haven't actually displayed that in their buying patterns, he added.

"People are still making up their mind about what they think about these (green) products and what they are willing to pay," Kahn said.

Shea says these homes achieve a 50 percent reduction in the therms associated with heating water, 75 percent reduction in energy used from lighting, 40 percent reduction in energy used from clothes washers, and a 41 percent reduction in energy used by dishwashers.

The company plans to build 20,000 of these homes over the next 10 years with 1,400 to 1,500 expected to come online this year.

Source: Daily Breeze. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. Powered by Yellowbrix.

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