Executive Summary

Active Assisted Living (AAL) systems and devices have the potential to support Canada’s aging population, enabling older adults to live independently for longer. Given the wide range of accessible, adaptive, and smart home technologies available to consumers, it is necessary to understand the building and infrastructural requirements of these technologies when used within a home-like environment. This understanding is crucial not only to address the evolving care needs of older adults but also to proactively anticipate these needs and create supportive living environments. However, there has historically been a lack of oversight guiding the development and implementation of AAL-enabled smart living environments, which has put the onus on manufacturers to shape the space.

The primary objective of this report is to explore requirements to facilitate the integration of AAL technologies in retirement and independent living settings. These guidelines will provide support for community developers, AAL technology manufacturers, builders, and construction companies engaged in retrofitting existing units and new building construction. Further, this report provides suggestions for best practice for the use of AAL technology and considers the needs and characteristics of the infrastructure and ways to ensure that the built environment is resilient and capable of multiple iterations of AAL technology.

To achieve this objective, we examined guidance in existing building codes and standards, as well as published academic literature. A sample smart home use case was then developed to explore the practical considerations involved in smart home design for an older adult living in a retirement community, considering the home and community as an entire system. Lastly, an evaluation of 156 unique technologies from 143 vendors was done to determine the requirements for setting up a smart home, followed by an examination of upcoming trends in the space.

Based on these findings, general recommendations are presented, as well as additional considerations for pre-existing homes to be retrofitted into smart living environments and for newly built smart homes. General recommendations include taking care to avoid clutter; maintaining field of view; establishing data-sharing pathways; considering interoperability, security, and privacy protections of device options; and establishing plans to periodically re-examine and modify the smart home design. Key considerations for retrofits include addressing incompatibility between smart technologies on the market and the existing building infrastructure, minimizing disruptions to residents’ lives, and ensuring the living environment remains familiar and comfortable throughout the transformation. For new builds, essential considerations include designing for modifiability as residents’ needs and the state of technology changes, establishing backup systems for power and Internet, allowing for serviceability, and assessing whether a home has adequate network access to support the integration and functionality of the smart devices and systems. Finally, this report outlines recommendations for future research to further advance and refine the integration of AAL technologies in smart living environments to ensure continuous enhancement and effectiveness.