It is not necessarily all that common to find multiple generations living under the same roof in America. However, there are many cultures that make up the rich tapestry of American lives that indeed house grandparents, parents, and cousins under the same roof. This is especially common with Spanish, Greek, and Portuguese Americans, for example. While it is a blessing to have family close, this can also pose a number of challenges to family members, with privacy and convenience being two of the biggest obstacles to overcome when you have a large number of bodies occupying the same space.
Today’s savvy multi-generational families are discovering the value of hiring San Jose ADU builders to construct dwellings for extended families, and this article will review some of the main benefits to building an ADU on your San Jose property for a segment of your family.
Building ADUs for Multi-Family Homes Preserves Energy and Lowers Electricity Bills
Let’s face the facts: when you have multiple family generations living in the same house, your power consumption will be high, and this means you will be dealing with expensive bills. This can also create family arguments; the grandparents might argue that they use less power and therefore their portion of contributing to the utility bills should be lower, and arguments like this can weaken family bonds, as well as put major dents in your bank account.
Adore Homes can build ADUs with solar systems in place. This means light, appliances, TVs, computers, heating and cooling systems, and any other device that runs on electricity can be powered by solar energy, and as a result your electric bill will be dramatically slashed.
According to Solar Power Eco Watch, the average solar system installation lowers electric bills by more than 46% in the state of California, and there are also state grants and tax rebates for property owners who implement solar panels on their ADUs. Not only will your family save lots of money with one family generation living in the ADU off a solar power system, but the investment of solar energy will usually pay for itself within the first six months of use, with added rebates in place.
ADU Builders Enable Multi-Generation Families to Reduce CO2 Emissions
According to a research paper published in the Journal of Building and Environment titled “A Decision Support Model for Improving a Multi-Family Housing Complex Based on CO2 Emissions from Gas Energy Consumption” by Taehoon Hong, Choongwan Hoo and Sungki Park, gas energy [in an ADU build] can achieve the following:
- Reduce CO2 emission by gas energy
- Define the most potential in terms of energy-saving
- Cluster-based CBR model [with an ADU designed appropriately] can improve the prediction of accuracy in energy consumption by 93.47%
- Using the right model, [an ADU builder] can reduce the rate of CO2 emissions beyond 5-36%
- The model can make [ADUs] more effective
Multi-generation families will gain a plethora of benefits by building an ADU in their backyard in San Jose, and one of these will be reducing their carbon footprint on the planet.
A San Jose ADU Builder Can Keep Families Together While Reducing Disagreements Over Use of Space
As much as family members love each other, there are still problems that stem from how space is utilized. For example, kids might be messy by leaving their belongings all over the house, causing anxiety for the older generation, while elderly family members who are hard of hearing may blast the TV in their part of the house and disturb the rest of the family, resulting in drawn-out arguments.
ADUs can be perfect “granny flats” for the older generation as it will give them total privacy, not create noise or inconvenience for younger family members, and provide just enough separation from the clutter of small children in the primary home, but it still gives grandparents easy, direct access to their beloved grandchildren.
Multi-Generation Families Can Build an ADU for a Cheaper Price Than Placing Elderly Family in Assisted Living Homes
Many of Adore Homes’ multi-generation household clients split the investment cost of building an ADU, and while there are multiple reasons why families build ADUs, regardless of the main reasons, all family members save significantly more money in the long run building an ADU (something that adds resale value to their property) than they do in paying thousands of dollars a month to house family in a senior care home—an option that gives them zero equity. As a result, every generation of the family unit saves money, sees a return on their investment, and the senior members of the family have a higher quality lifestyle living in their ADU because they get greater freedom and have a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment.
Call Adore Homes for a Free ADU Build Consultation and Property Inspection
Now is the time for the family unit to come together and invest in their livelihood and lifestyle. Adore Homes has an expansive resume of work, building San Jose ADUs, and ADUs in Northern California for multi-generation households, customizing each build to fulfill the needs and challenges placed by each unique family. Call today for a free consultation and discover how an ADU built in your backyard can enrich the lives of every family member, both young and old.