LOS ANGELES – MARCH 6: Downtown Los Angeles is photographed March 6, 2003 in Los Angeles, … [+]
There was a time when the built environment was all about using the correct construction materials, getting the aesthetics right and making everything as energy efficient as possible.
Now there is a new movement, which will mean the buildings of tomorrow will support the physical, physiological, and social health of the people who use them.
The healthy buildings movement is bringing issues to the forefront like how our health is being impacted by indoor air quality, lighting and water quality.
One of the leading voices in this revolution is Paul Scialla, the founder of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and founder and CEO of the New York-based real estate and technology company, Delos.
Speaking to Forbes, he said for many years the prevailing approach was failing to take into account the health of the people who work and live inside the buildings being designed.
He added while the healthy building movement has been slowly gaining traction over the last decade, the pandemic has proved to be a “watershed moment” by getting people to appreciate that “what surrounds us matters”.
“What we breathe matters,” said Scialla. “And how we gather indoors matters, and that has certainly elevated people’s awareness of indoor health.”
He said the International WELL Building Institute now has programmes in 128 countries, and a quarter of all the Fortune 500 companies have adopted its standards and ratings.
“We feel it has become a benchmark to advance the healthy building movement,” he added.
“There’s much more emphasis on well-being and wellness than there was 20 years ago,” he added. “The more information you give people, the more they’re going to be conscious of the issue.
Scialla said this new indoor environmental paradigm also strikes a chord of what really matters to people personally – their energy levels, their sleeping patterns, and various health outcomes.
One of the key tenets of the healthy buildings movement is the need for improved indoor air quality and filtration.
Sciallia said recent technological advances mean it is possible to get a very high filtration efficiency indoors with a very low pressure drop.
He added there is a growing realisation that “we need to up the ante on indoor air quality” and that it cannot be done in a way that drains energy.
The growing importance of indoor air quality was highlighted by a recent poll of 2,000 UK workers on behalf of the smart building technology firm Infogrid.
With winter approaching, the survey found one in five respondents are worried that bad ventilation will contribute to the spread of Covid and other illnesses in the workplace
It also found that two in five unaware that poor air quality in work environments affect concentration and productivity levels.
The chief executive and founder of Infogrid, William Cowell de Gruchy said the survey shows the increased concern that many people have about the quality of the air they breathe in their work environments.
He said it also highlights a broader conversation around creating safer and healthier indoor environments to ensure the wellbeing of people within them.
“Increasingly, companies, employees and customers are understanding the impact that work environments have on physical and mental health and wellbeing,” added Cowell de Grouchy.
There is another reason why the healthy buildings movement has come of age.
Every major company now has ESG guidelines and Scialla said it could easily become a cornerstone, straddling both the environmental and social aspects of the concept.
“It gets into what’s going to matter to leaders of organisations as they look to attract and retain employees. They want to get the best out of their workforce,” he added.
Another recent survey also found that air-circulating indoor green or living walls can improve the skin quality and immune system of office workers in less than a month.
