The Magazine of MiliTary housing, lodging & lifesTyles

DefensecommunitiesMAY/JUNE 2012 www.phma.com

Updating laundry facilities page 20

Streamlining housing referral page 22

Special section: Outdoor spaces page 26

WelcomeHome

Innovative home design offers Wounded Warriors at Fort Belvoir an accessible safe haven

CONTENTS

2 Defense Communities

10 Redefining Accessible At Fort Belvoir, two radically innovative homes are bringing new meaning to the word accessible—and creating a “new normal” for Wounded Warriors. By Hallie Groff

16 Standardization for Success A new document provides guidance for streamlining and invigorating the Navy Housing Referral Service. By Carol Casto

26 The Great Outdoors Environmentally friendly parks and playgrounds enhance the neighborhoods at Fort Polk. By Mark L. Williams and Elizabeth Scruggs

30 Greening the Community Recycling, reusing, and resizing lawns are just some ways to rethink landscaping and renew local sustainability. By Bob Mooney, PMP, MBA and David R. Cloutier

32 Making a Splash Spray parks and splash pads make for safe, sustainable, and cost-effective recreation. By Patricia Rotschild

35 A Carpet of Wood A new product reduces maintenance and increases accessibility for playground surfaces made of engineered wood fiber. By Jeff Mrakovich

10

SPECIAL SECTION: OUTDOOR SPACES

FEATURES

26

mAY | June 2012 3

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Debra J. StrattonBirgitt SeymourLia DangelicoChristine UmbrellJanelle Welch

Defense Communities magazine is designed to keep those who operate and manage the whole spectrum of military housing and facilities maintenance informed on the industry’s latest technology, prod-ucts, and services. It provides a forum for members to share les-sons learned, news and events, and training opportunities and updates.

The Magazine of MiliTary housing, lodging & lifesTyles

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DEPARTMENTS 4 President’s Message

PHMA President Del Eulberg honors our leaders and their legacy.

6 Chapter News We can learn to adapt to change—that’s the lesson members of Krystal Chapter 47 took away from PDS XXIV.

38 Military Marketplace The go-to source for prod-ucts and services designed for the military housing and lodging industry.

40 Advertising Index

41 PHMA Corporate Sustaining Members

20 A Better Laundry Updating laundry facilities— individual units as well as community laundry rooms—can bring savings in time and energy. By Kate Holmes

22 More Than Just Classifieds The online military marketplace SargesList helps defense commu-nities thrive in the new economy. By Lisa Klinkhammer

ABOUT THE COVER The Patriot Home at Fort Belvoir, designed by Michael Graves and Associates, offers a safe haven for Wounded Warriors and their families.

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10 Defense Communities

Nestled within Fort Belvoir’s Woodlawn Village neigh-borhood, two radically innovative homes are

bringing new meaning to the word accessible. Underscored by thought-ful design principles, customizable features, and cutting-edge technology, the Patriot and Freedom homes pro-vide a “new normal” for our nation’s

growing population of active duty Wounded Warriors.

And these two homes are only the beginning.

For the U.S. Army/Clark Realty Capital team, which formed a pub-lic-private partnership in 2004 that comprises Fort Belvoir Residential Communities (FBRC), accessible housing was never simply “a require-

ment to be met.” With more than 95 accessible homes already on post and its thousands of deserving ser-vice members in mind, Fort Belvoir’s future accessible housing presented a prime opportunity to innovate.

What emerged were two homes that are not just physically accessible, but universally smart, with benefits that extend far beyond their every detail.

Fort Belvoir creates a “new normal” for Wounded Warriors

By Hallie Groff

Redefining Accessible

| FEATURE |

mAY | June 2012 11

Understanding Wounded Warriors“He wants everything to be as normal as possible,” explained Danielle Shell, wife of Wounded Warrior and retired U.S. Army Captain Alvin Shell Jr., who suffered third-degree burns over 30 per-cent of his body after his convoy was ambushed in Baghdad. Among the challenges that accompany his injury, CPT Shell suffers difficulty regulating body temperature, light sensitivity, decreased muscular endurance, and emotional memories that will stay with him forever.

CPT Shell is one of 19 Wounded Warriors who helped shape the proj-ect team’s earliest design decisions for the Patriot and Freedom homes. In early 2011, FBRC assembled a team of industry leaders for a series of inter-views, discussions, and workshops to gain fundamental understanding of the Wounded Warrior and lay the groundwork for the two homes’ plans. World-renowned design firm IDEO and architect Michael Graves, who is himself paralyzed from the waist down, brought first-hand insight and understanding to the project.

“There is no one template for the severely injured,” noted Graves. “Everyone is different in abilities and

the way they want to do things.”With soldiers’ injuries ranging from

loss of limbs to post-traumatic stress disorder, no single home can accom-modate each and every returning Wounded Warrior. But purposeful and adaptable design features can make all the difference in an injured soldier’s road to recovery.

“I do realize that I have certain limitations, and bottom line is, I have to be comfortable,” explains Joe Beimfohr, who is a retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant. His left leg is ampu-tated just below the knee, while his right leg ends at the hip. Joe’s chal-lenges include general mobility dif-ficulty in narrow spaces and over large thresholds, and increased temperature discomfort. Also, with a collection of prostheses and accompanying equip-ment, Joe and his wife Ana have struggled to find a home that would provide the necessary storage.

With more and more soldiers like Joe returning from war and making the transition to life at home, the Army is faced with a new, growing need for universally accessible hous-ing that accommodates not only the soldier, but the family as a whole. The Wounded Warrior home is designed to encourage recovery and ease the

An Innovative TeamFort Belvoir recently celebrated the end of its eight-year Initial Development Period, during which time the U.S. Army/Clark Realty Capital team delivered 2,106 homes all on time and on budget. Throughout this Initial Development Period, Fort Belvoir served as a lead-er in innovation.

In addition to the recently unveiled Wounded Warrior homes, Belvoir boasts the first Town Center on a Department of Defense instal-lation. The project also encom-passes five new neighborhood centers, one of which became the first new construction project in the military to achieve LEED® Platinum status. In 2010, Fort Belvoir won the GreenGov Presidential Award, presented by the U.S. President for renewable energy, community engagement, resident education, and other sustainable innovations in family housing.

Testaments to Belvoir’s success are the installation’s 30 local, nation-al, and international awards for excellence in design and planning, innovation, environmental steward-ship, and historic preservation.

The front façade of the Freedom home, which features a unique octagonal family room, welcomed Marine Staff Sergeant Travis Green and his family as its first residents in the fall of 2011.

12 Defense Communities

The kitchen and bathrooms feature mobile base cabinets. Those in the kitchen provide open space below the sink and next to the stove, for easy adaptation.

Wide doors and a level threshold make the open-air patio accessible.

The master bath features a walk-in/roll-in shower with grab-bars and seat.

mAY | June 2012 13

A Look Inside Totaling 3,000 square feet each, the Wounded Warrior homes at Fort Belvoir comprise unique design elements that can accommodate any number of injured service members.

Among these features, hallways boast a 360-degree turning radius for those in a wheelchair and room-by-room thermostat control accommodates those who have dif-ficulty regulating their own temperature.

Even the trim, finishing, and door kick plates prevent the wear and tear of wheelchairs, prostheses, and high resident turnover due to frequent moves by military personnel.

Visit www.woundedwarriorhome.org to explore the unique features in the Patriot and Freedom homes.

difficult transition as injured service members return home to discover their “new normal” within the fam-ily dynamic.

Reflecting on his ongoing per-sonal recovery, CPT Shell noted, “Sometimes you need that space away from everything else … very few people can do it in their head.”

This alone time must exist har-moniously with therapeutic time with loved ones. “When you get those moments together, you’re going to say something loving, you’re going to do something loving. As little walls as possible so it brings every-body together,” said CPT Shell. “For me, those are the times you remember.”

The personal space to allow reflection—what CPT Shell calls “me time”—with the ability to foster equally therapeutic family moments creates a delicate balance within the home. Among other spaces, the private therapy room and open living areas serve to meet this indefinable dual need, provid-ing a retreat in conjunction with a thriving social space.

In the Patriot and Freedom homes, standard accessibility codes provided only a starting point in designing for this new normal.

Looking beyondAt the ribbon-cutting ceremony in late 2011, the completed Patriot and Freedom homes appeared uniquely normal. Without a ramp in sight, they easily blend in with the rest of the block in Fort Belvoir’s largest village. Their cheery yellow and red façades and clean white trim boast a contemporary look and incorporate elements of style common among the neighboring homes on Dairy Court. The homes maintain their residents’ dignity to provide a set-

Wide hallways are another feature of the Wounder Warrior homes.

14 Defense Communities

ting in which both family and service members can grow and thrive within the larger neighborhood.

Marine Staff Sergeant Travis Green, the project’s first resident, sat in front of his Freedom home at the ceremony. A double amputee, SSG Green lost both legs in combat in the Sangin district of Helmand Province in Afghanistan. He returned home to begin the road to recovery alongside his wife and five children. Fortunate to be back, he and his family now face the task of rehabilitation and adjust-ing to a changed life.

Active-duty Wounded Warriors like SSG Green have served as the inspira-tion behind the Belvoir team’s ambi-tion to revolutionize accessible housing throughout the installation. The Patriot and Freedom homes are the first of 21 state-of-the-art Wounded Warrior homes to join the nearly 100 other accessible residences on post.

The future Wounded Warrior homes will serve not as mere replicas of their predecessors, but as evolved and refined versions. The Wounded Warrior Home Project team is continuing to learn from these two prototypes by collecting input from residents like the Greens and facilitating continued academic research through another partner, the University of Buffalo’s Universal Design program. Under a federal grant, the university will

actively study the home over the course of the next year, researching broader applications of universal design for the military and all those living with dis-abilities.

Fort Belvoir’s Wounded Warrior homes have laid the framework for adapt-able, smart design and feature those hard-to-define principles that truly reshape

accessible housing. Perhaps the greatest testament to the project’s early success is the response from SSG Green as voiced through a military spokesperson:

“It’s the nicest home I’ve lived in.” n

Hallie Groff is a Creative Associate, Clark Realty Capital. Reach her at Hallie.groff@clarkrealty.com.

Wounded Warrior Home Project team members from U.S. Army Fort Belvoir, Clark Realty Capital, Clark Builders Group, Michael Graves & Associates, IDEO, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Buffalo IDeA Center in front of the Patriot home.

The Green family, seated in the front row at the Wounded Warrior homes ribbon-cutting ceremony in November 2011, became the first residents of the Freedom home.

40 Defense Communities

A d v e r t i s i n g i n d e x

Company, Contact Phone Web Site Page

Balfour Beatty Communities, Kathy Grim 610/355-8206 www.bbcgrp.com 1

Coit Worldwide, Shawn Aghababian 800/367-2648 www.coit.com 18

Cort, Peggy Moore 301/324-8606 www.cort1.com 15

Davey Commercial Grounds, George Gaumer 800/447-1667 x 225 www.davey.com 24

HD Supply Facilities Maintenance 877/610-6912 www.hdsupplysolutions.com C2

Kaba Multihousing & Institutional, LaShawnda Robinson 248/837-3700 www.kabamultihousing.com 19

Kidzpace Interactive, David Meyer 800/594-9184 www.kidzpace.com 18

Landscape Structures, Megan Andrada 888/438-6574 www.playlsi.com C3

Microfridge Inc., Benjamin Otte 508/660-9200 www.microfridge.com 7

MilitaryByOwner Advertising, Dave Gran 540/446-4676 www.MilitaryByOwner.com 28

Oakwood Corporate Housing, Mary Jacenich 888/268.9998 www.oakwood.com/government 31

Picerne Military Housing, Bill Mulvey 401/228-2800 www.picernemilitaryhousing.com 23

R.J. Thomas Manufacturing Co. Inc., Bob Simonsen 800/762-5002 www.pilotrock.com 36

Safeplay Systems, Eric Torrey 770/591-7000 www.safeplaysystems.com 37

Salsbury Industries, Ricardo Alva 323/846-6700 www.mailboxes.com 34

University Loft Company, James Jannetides 317/631-5433 www.universityloft.com C4

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Customer Service 800/644-8083 www.wellsfargo.com 47

Yardi, Spencer Stewart 800/866-1144 www.yardi.com 5

Zeager Bros. Inc., Bob Zeager 800/396-8524 www.zeager.com 33