ADVANCING ACCESSIBILITY Barrier-Free Routes to Market Opportunity By Barbara Carss THE PREMISE of accessibility is the simple right to equal opportunity. From that impetus, many commercial real estate operators are making the simple business case for buildings that are functional for all potential users. It’s a quest that can begin with simple investigations, simple low-cost measures and simple mindfulness, whether at the design stage of new developments or in r e - eva lu a t i ng r o u t i n e p r o p e r t y ma nagement practices. A recent REALPAC-sponsored webinar exploring efforts to identify and alleviate barriers in the built environment touched on all those themes. “Since 80% of disabilities are acquired between the age of 16 and 64, it’s important to remember that anyone can become a person with a disability at any time,” noted Kris Kolenc, REALPAC’s
Research and Sustainability Manager. “As commercial real estate owners and managers, we have a unique and crucial role to play in supporting accessibility w it h i n o u r b u i ld i ng s a n d o u r organizations, both for our employees and for our customers.” Discussion focused on strategies for assuming that role and some of the resources available to help facilitate it. In the latter category, Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification (RHFAC) is emerging as an industry standard for gauging how buildings perform for users with mobility, vision or hea r ing impairments, while Pedesting is a navigational app that guides users to their destinations along the most convenient possible barrier-free pedestrian routes and, as a by-product, delivers telling analytics to property managers.
6 October/November 2021 | Canadian Property Management
FILLING INFORMATIONAL GAPS “You can start to see where the barriers and problems are. In a shopping mall, for instance, maybe there’s a whole wing where people with disabilities are not going. There must be a reason why,” advised Erin Shilliday, a Calgary-based architect and Co-founder of Pedesting. “We can rate the pedestrian experience through their spaces, of what is working and what’s not. That is fantastic information for a building owner.” His business colleague, Pedesting Co-founder Nabeel Ramji, who relies on a power wheelchair for mobility, tallied the many daily challenges he encounters in urban spaces and buildings, and the degree of advance planning that entails. It all infringes on the independence and impromptu experiences that able-bodied people unthinkingly enjoy.
