The Real Story

Not your grandfather’s architecture

The Real Story — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:03:55 +0000

Jeffrey DeMure is an architect by profession and a passionate generationalist by vocation. The principal of a thriving practice in Northern California, Jeff works and speaks all over the country on the subject of reinventing the model for 55+ living.

Jeff is quick to remind us that, with Americans living on average 30 years longer than they did at the beginning of the last century, there is no longer one profile for the retired. Three different generations inhabit this general category, with very different needs—and even more, very different attitudes about themselves and aging.

America’s oldest retirees are those of The Greatest Generation—the people who grew up with the Great Depression and fought in World War II. That group—now in their mid eighties and up—represents the more traditional image of the senior citizen. The Silent Generation retirees, now in their late sixties to mid eighties, have been the first to rethink how they want to live in their retirement years—and some have chosen not to retire at all. Now that the Boomers, some 80 million strong, are entering into retirement age at a rate of 10,000 people turning 65 every day, there is more pressure than ever for a redefinition of active adult living.

Jeff tells us that the Boomer senior is less likely to move away from their home area, and more likely to put off aging as long as they can. As they recognize physical frailties, they are more likely to get a knee or a hip replaced than lose their mobility. He sees the differences in age and outlook as a sociological puzzle to be solved as much as an architectural opportunity.

Our conversation with Jeff will last for three more weeks, so be sure to tune in. You can download the entire series on iTunes or on Facebook.

Holiday wishes

The Real Story — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:12:55 +0000

The Real Story wishes you a happy holiday season and stellar 2012. We’ll be back in January with more insights and conversations. In the meantime, be sure to like us on Facebook to get our podcasts delivered directly to your news feed.The entire 2011 lineup of The Real Story is available on iTunes.

Warmest wishes to all!

Great changes a little at a time

The Real Story — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:31:55 +0000

When most people think about energy savings in a new home, their minds move almost immediately to solar power. Yet many of the smaller, less headline-worthy technologies readily available today are what really make the difference in one’s energy bills.

The Real Story is talking to Chuck Schoenberger, Executive Vice President of O’Brien Homes, about his company’s multi-family home community in Sunnyvale, Fusion. Fusion is being built inside the environs of a business park—a new direction for homebuilding, but surely one that makes sense when it comes to promoting an energy-conserving lifestyle. Chuck says that the residents can walk or bicycle to work, to retail or to public transportation. What’s more, because this community is considered “infill” in an established area, there are plenty of mature trees and greenbelts to blur the lines of the architecture and create a welcoming streetscape.

Chuck confesses to be hugely interested in solar, yet made the decision not to do solar roofs for the Fusion community. Why? The payback is too far out—some 10 - 15 years—to make solar installation a plus for most homebuyers. Instead, the features that are decidedly low on the sex appeal-scale—Energy Star appliances, more and better insulation, high quality vinyl windows and zoned thermostats—are the real heroes in the drive to consume less energy and enjoy lower energy bills.

Our talk with Chuck continues next week. In the meantime, you can download this week’s conversation on iTunes or hear it on Facebook.

Have an a-maize-ing holiday

The Real Story — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:14:32 +0000

On this Thanksgiving, The Real Story thanks YOU for your interest and support. We’ll return next week with more from Chuck Schoenberger of O’Brien Homes on building for the new generation of homebuyers. Log on and listen in!

Green building’s cost-to-value radio

The Real Story — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:30:16 +0000

One of the best insights about green building for tomorrow comes from a builder who has been focused on quality building for decades. Chuck Schoenberger, Senior Vice President of Operations for O’Brien Homes, could write the book on quality homebuilding. So it’s not too much of a stretch to see O’Brien Homes take on a leadership role in the green building movement as well.

Chuck talks this week about participating in focus groups with prospective homebuyers to understand how a homeowner perceives “value” in different aspects of green building. Surprisingly, most of the prospective buyers couldn’t name a green feature after solar panels and tankless water heaters. Given the enormous undertaking of researching and selecting construction vendor partners who understand the materials and have the installation know-how, Chuck wants to spend more time educating the new home buying community about the kinds of things that can make a house healthy, and more energy and cost-efficient.

“Today’s buyer equates saving energy to saving money,” he says. Yet in a new home community, like O’Brien’s “Fusion” neighborhood in Sunnyvale, which has been built in excess of Build It Green’s 50-point checklist, the homebuyers—mostly first-timers—also have an opportunity to live a greener lifestyle by bicycling to work and using community-designed recreation and gathering areas instead of driving around town.

“Human behavior will work itself out,” says Chuck. But in the meantime, Chuck sees cities like Sunnyvale leading the charge for the change to green.

Next week, The Real Story talks to Chuck about the economics of green development in a recession, and how green construction translates into dollars in the consumers’ pockets. You can download this interview on iTunes or listen in on Facebook.

Building a better home, inside and out

The Real Story — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:27:37 +0000

The Real Story had the opportunity to sit down with Chuck Schoenberger, Partner and Senior Vice President of Operations for O’Brien Homes. In his 20 years with the company, Chuck has overseen the construction of more than 2,000 homes. These days, he is a homebuilder dedicated to improving the quality of the built environment, and in doing so, a leader in green construction.

In Chuck’s experience, today’s homebuyer is looking for a home whose construction quality and features provide a healthier and more efficient living environment, with reduced energy bills. Not only has his company had experience in building homes in every price point and almost every locale in the Bay Area since its founding in 1976, O’Brien Homes has been an industry leader in quality controls. Often, says Chuck, the company’s commitment to quality has led to whole new approaches to building. To ensure that new ideas are embraced by trades and suppliers, O’Brien has helped educate its trade partners in changes in the building sciences.

Chuck’s conversation this week points out the ways in which homebuilders are matching up technological advances with the features that matter most to their buyers. As the conversation progresses this month, Chuck will be discussing how the Fusion neighborhood in Sunnyvale is delivering a green lifestyle to a high-tech buyer profile.

You can download this interview on iTunes or listen in on Facebook. The conversation continues all month, so be sure to log on.

A future with fewer cars?

The Real Story — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:30:06 +0000

The Real Story got into a passionate discussion with Jane Warner of the American Lung Association of California. The topic? How the movement toward New Regionalism in California government could change the way we live, the way our children learn, and how many miles we put on our automobiles to carry out the tasks of daily living.

Jane talks this week about SB 375, and how this bill could change the guidelines for development in the state, moving new housing closer to public transportation hubs. An old idea, whose time has come again, is the notion of people living within walking distance to schools, parks, the grocery and other conveniences.

What can Californians do right now to reduce air pollution? Simple, says Jane: reduce the number of daily car trips. Combine all of your errands into one trip with several stops. Or get into the habit of participating—as a driver or a rider—in the many carpools, formal and informal, around the state.

For more information, downloadable materials and articles about lung health, check out: www.lungusa.org.

Clean air for all generations

The Real Story — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:12:27 +0000

Air quality awareness often starts with younger generations and spreads upward. According to Jane Warner of the American Lung Association of California, education programs in the schools tend to filter home to parents and grandparents, and also to teachers and their families. Parents by in large want a better life for their children, and the ALAC’s efforts are making sure better air quality is included in the mix.

In today’s segment, Jane identifies support for California’s advanced clean car standards as a major issue for her organization. Even while budget issues seem to dominate the news, the ALAC’s goal is to help protect both the quality of our air and California’s leadership position in enacting air quality standards.

A recent development: A major commitment toward cleaner air was recently announced by the state Air Resources Board. A groundbreaking cap and trade system to curb industrial pollution has been adopted.

Our conversation with Jane concludes next week, so be sure to log on.

Cleaning up the air up there

The Real Story — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:38:35 +0000

Education is the key to affecting action, and Jane Warner, President of the American Lung Association of California, has plenty of fuel for action. The organization’s web site is full of articles on the national level as well as information specific to California.

Speaking of the Golden State, Jane reports that our efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions are having an impact. Ozone in the Los Angeles area has been reduced 25% over the last 10 years!

Better air, better health

The Real Story — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:31:24 +0000

Jane Warner, President and CEO of the American Lung Association of California, has been an ardent follower of green technology—because she can see how innovation in the field of environmentally friendly products directly affects the health of Americans.

While visiting the Pacific Coast Builders Conference, Jane was especially interested in the new flooring products, because as she explains it, the youngest members of any household spend a lot of time in contact with the rugs and flooring. With the extended recession creating more multi-generational households, she sees many couples concerned not just with the health of their children, but of their parents as well. All of the construction materials that impact the air quality inside a home—from the paint on the walls, to the pad under the carpeting to the sealer on the wood cabinetry—now have alternatives that help create cleaner air.

The American Lung Association of California is also very interested in tracking the exterior air quality in the state, and has been assessing the health care costs that could be reduced with healthier automobile emissions from electric, hybrid and zero emissions cars. It’s a new day for California consumers, and Jane is seeing a number of products that are both economical and marketable.

You can hear our entire conversation with Jane on iTunes and Facebook.