Valle Verde Retirement Community wins inaugural ICAA Green Award

Valle Verde Retirement Community, located in Santa Barbara, California, is the winner of the first-ever ICAA Green Award, a new category in the International Council on Active Aging®’s Innovators Awards program. The Green Award, which was conferred in November, specifically recognizes organizations that encourage environmental stewardship by creating and/or implementing eco-friendly products, services, processes, designs or programs in their settings.

An American Baptist Homes of the West continuing care retirement community (CCRC), Valle Verde (www.valleverdesb.com ) has made changes that are resulting in reduced electricity use, decreased waste and increased recycling. The nonprofit community is also generating solar electricity, using reclaimed water and buying food from local farmers. A measure of its success are utility cost savings that average more than $210,000 annually.