FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Thanks to architecture professor Korydon Smith, Arkansas has taken a major step toward providing accessible, low-cost housing for all citizens of the state — and saved millions in future housing and elder care costs. Smith has developed usability standards that have been adopted by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. The ADFA is the primary agency in the state to promote the development of safe, decent and affordable housing for low and moderate income Arkansans. The new measures will be fully implemented in 2008.

Currently the law requires that 5 percent of multi-family housing units funded by the ADFA must be merely visitable by persons in wheelchairs. Under the new guidelines, 7 percent of all multi-family housing units funded by the ADFA must meet the highest standards of usability — from level entries and wide doors that accommodate those in wheelchairs to appliances and systems equipped with sensory cues for users with sight or hearing loss.

The ADFA also will require that all multi-family units be equipped with hardware and kitchen and bathroom fixtures that are fully operable with a closed fist, enabling users with arthritis and other impairments to live independently. In addition, all ground level and elevator-accessible units funded by ADFA must be visitable by persons in wheelchairs.

“This new housing will be more marketable and better meets the demographics of the state,” Smith said.

The ADFA’s decision to incorporate these usability standards culminates three years of research and work by Smith, who is principal investigator for the Arkansas Universal Design Project. The program is a pioneering attempt to develop and implement universal design housing standards that move beyond ad hoc, retrofit solutions for people with disabilities.

“The goal is to develop aesthetically pleasing designs that serve as diverse a group as possible,” Smith said.

Sara Braswell, vice president of housing at the ADFA, served on the Governor’s Task Force on Supported Housing that launched the universal design effort.

“After much research and study, everyone on the Governor’s Task Force agreed that Universal Design should be adopted by ADFA and implemented as a requirement, and that the specific universal design standards should be developed by professionals with expertise in that field,” she said. “Kory has done a wonderful job of researching and drafting design standards that will vastly improve living conditions for many Arkansans.”

Approximately 1,000 new multi-family units are funded by the ADFA each year, Braswell said. Owners of single-family homes funded by the ADFA also may elect to include the usability standards.

Though Smith is delighted by this victory, he is aware that there may be some resistance from developers and contractors.

“It really comes from a lack of experience with this type of design standards,” he said. “It’s like cooking a soufflé — if you’re not accustomed to doing that, you’re going to be skeptical.”

Just as Julia Child’s Mastering Art of French Cooking introduced American cooks to the mysteries of soufflés with step-by-step instructions and diagrams, Smith has codified inclusive design in the Arkansas Usability Standards in Housing. The 66-page manual spells out standards grouped into five levels, from simple measures to make a home visitable to spaces that are fully equipped to meet a wide range of needs and abilities. Color-coded diagrams clearly illustrate options for functional bathroom and kitchen design.

To further educate the state’s building industry, Smith will participate in ADFA workshops on the new usability standards. At a universal design forum planned for spring 2008 he plans to address head-on one of the main objections: higher cost.

“Basic accessibility standards raise costs less than half of one percent, according to HUD studies,” he said. In contrast, retrofitting a house for someone with mobility impairments can require as much as 20 percent of a home’s original construction costs.

“Changing building practices now will benefit both homeowners and state and federal governments in the long run,” Smith said. And though builders may confront slightly higher costs in the short term, the units built will be more marketable as the population ages.

National demographics support the case for inclusive design:

• By 2030, the percentage of people aged 65 or older in the United States will double.

• At age 65, the likelihood of disability is greater than 50 percent.

• Nursing home care currently costs the United States government $100 billion a year.

The need for accessible housing is especially compelling in Arkansas, which has the highest percentage of people living in poverty in the nation, ranks third highest in the rate of disability, and seventh highest in percentage of residents aged 60 and older.

“If you can extend someone’s stay in their home by just one year, you save $24,000 or more in nursing home expenses — not to mention the quality of life benefits,” Smith said. “At any given time, around 1.6 million Americans live in nursing homes. Better housing could help reduce that number and save billions of dollars in Medicare spending.”

The Arkansas Universal Design Initiative is funded by Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, the Department of Human Services, and Partners for Inclusive Communities/UAMS.

For more information on universal design, and to access the usability standards online, visit Kory Smith’s StudioAID Web site.