Humangood, Transforming Age, Rose Villa See Benefits In More Sustainable Senior Living Communities

“Going green” isn’t just good for the environment – it’s also sometimes good for operators’ bottom lines.

In recent years, senior living operators including Transforming Age, HumanGood and Rose Villa have undertaken green energy initiatives such as creating energy efficient neighborhoods, solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations to make their communities more energy efficient and save on utilities. But doing so also has another benefit: Some residents are in 2024 increasingly requesting more environmentally friendly features on campus.  Operators undertaking such plans say it may take years to see  a return on their initial investments – but it is still well worth doing in the meantime.

For example, Portland, Oregon-based Rose Villa has two zero-energy neighborhoods with renewable energy sources and gray water systems to reduce waste – and a waitlist for new residents of 8 to 10 years, according to CEO Glen Lewis.

Duarte, California-based senior living nonprofit Transforming Age recently broke ground on Parkshore Juanita Bay, a new LEED Platinum Certified community in Kirkland, Washington. The community’s sales teams have been able to market those features to prospective residents so well that it has actually decreased the organization’s marketing spend for the community to about a third of what other nearby Transforming Age communities are spending.

“We’ve been delighted by the response,” said Natalie Falker, director of sales and marketing at Parkshore Juanita Bay. “We’ve got a lot of people that weren’t even considering senior living options that are deciding to ultimately move in because they want to have an impact on the environment and their future footprint.”

Promoting green initiatives with future residents

Senior living operators are spending time and resources marketing green community features. But sometimes, those features market themselves by generating buzz among prospective residents, according to HumanGood CEO John Cochrane.

HumanGood has formed the basis of its initiatives through resident engagement and involvement from action committees, which spend time looking into and suggesting ways to better incorporate solar energy usage, reducing food waste and reducing greenhouse emissions across its communities. Cochrane said the organization has also been rolling out technology systems to make buildings run more efficiently, which he notes hits another initiative residents are wanting.

Although it is not prospects’ primary reason for inquiring, it is often something HumanGood can market when it is discussed when they are touring communities and as a whole is marketed through word of mouth, Cochrane said.

“While they may not be asking about it, when we talk about it, I think it becomes a differentiator and an attractor for people,” he added.. “We’re finding that new customers are very responsive in a positive way to those developments.”

Rose Villa’s surrounding customer base is likely more interested in green and energy efficient designs, given the community’s locale in the Portland area. And to that end, the life plan community “is tapped into a clientele looking for that,” Lewis said. Because of this, the nonprofit does not have to particularly focus on creating advertising campaigns surrounding its green initiatives.

He added that he believes another new zero-energy neighborhood at Rose Villa would fill up before construction is completed.

“I know that our residents here are attracted to this because we’re leaving the world a better place. And I think that’s something that they get really excited about,” he said.

Transforming Age’s most successful advertisements from its LEED marketing campaign came from describing the eco-friendly amenities and LEED certification to prospective residents. As a result, the community “attracted a great demographic” and also helped entice move-ins from environment-minded residents who hadn’t previously considered senior living.

The campaign, which ran for two months, was attributed to bringing in 20% of the total lead generation for the community since it began premarketing in 2022, and was “directly responsible” for 18% of the reservation deposits. Marketing the LEED certification is also attributed to the community reaching a benchmark 80% reserved six months earlier than anticipated.

Falker added marketing efforts have been well received with the local community.

“Everybody keeps congratulating me, but I think Parkshore Juanita Bay has almost sold itself on the concept,” Falker said.

‘Brand-positioning ROI’

Investing in energy efficient and green initiatives can be costly.

For example, adding environmentally friendly materials and solar options in the development of Parkshore Juanita Bay added around 10-15% to construction costs, according to Adriene Iverson, senior vice president of customer experience and leader of Transforming Age’s net zero initiatives.

One obvious way to measure ROI is through lower utility costs and dollars that can be reinvested into other line items. But overall the ROI of green initiatives is harder to quantify, and vary among different projects and operators, Cochrane said.

“Can we tie higher occupancy to some of these initiatives? Probably not directly, but I suspect they’re important,” Cochrane said. “That’s where you really do get into outside of a pure financial ROI. I think there is a brand positioning ROI [which is] harder to quantify, but in some respects maybe even more valuable in the long-term.”

Green initiatives like can also net tax incentives and benefits and help operators comply with new regulations in states such as from states such as California and Washington, Iverson said.

Another added benefit is protecting the value of the properties themselves.

“There’s actually a green premium, and that can be upwards of almost 50%, where people are willing to pay more for a building that has more substantial green features,” Iverson told Senior Housing News. “I think there’s kind of a future proofing as well when you think about real estate and investing in green.”

Rose Villa measures its ROI in part in the fact that environmentally friendly building materials are generally higher quality, allowing them to last longer, according to Lewis. Due to being in the Pacific Northwest, the delta for product costs is also not as great as it may be in other regions of the country.

Additionally, some of the practices being put into place at Rose Villa are allowing the community to become more resilient to natural disasters in the process. Lewis noted recently, a four car garage burnt down in the community. With the rebuild, the garage will have solar power, backup battery supplies to allow charging in case of a power outage and a water collection tank with a potable water filtration system that can save up to two weeks worth of backup drinking water in case of an emergency.

“How much would we pay for access to drinking water in a natural disaster if we didn’t have any? A ton,” he said. “Building that infrastructure as part of our sustainability efforts ensures our future and makes sure that in the event of a natural disaster, we are well equipped and prepared for it.”

The post HumanGood, Transforming Age, Rose Villa See Benefits in More Sustainable Senior Living Communities appeared first on Senior Housing News.