New GRI OHS Standard Has Significant Implication on Health & Well-being
Occupational health and safety has been given much more attention in recent years, especially after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic when corporates realized that human resources are arguably their most important assets. Ensuring workers’ wellbeing has become a key concern for many businesses, acting as the wherewithal to long-term sustainability. This is particularly prominent […]
Read more How certification standards provide practical pathways to safety, health and well-being in our office buildings
In its definition of health, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is clear to highlight that it is not only the absence of disease or illness, but rather a holistic comprehensive state of wellbeing on all levels: physical, mental and social.
Read more The case for healthy materials in a post-COVID world
As the world tries to recover from the ongoing global pandemic, questions are being asked as to how this can be prevented from happening again, but also how we can create healthier environments for ourselves. In the post-COVID world we are all starting to notice how our health and wellbeing is being affected by the […]
Read more Reopening Offices: Examining Health & Wellness in the New Workplace
With offices beginning to reopen across the country, one of the main concerns for landlords and tenants alike is the safety of the workspace. Sanitation levels and preventative measures need to be at an all-time high to comply with local guidelines as well as to ensure that tenants are actually willing to return to work. […]
Read more The state of safety, health, and wellbeing in 2020
Following coronavirus outbreaks in their supply chains, both Tyson Foods Inc. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. added a Chief Medical Officer to their executive teams. These actions reflect the market’s increased emphasis on employee safety, health, and wellbeing in 2020. Expansions of safety, health, and wellbeing were not uncommon pre-COVID. In fact, many sectors recorded […]
Read more Recalibrating for COVID-19: Protecting Occupant Health, Safety and Wellbeing
2020 marked the start of a new decade, bringing with it a variety of crises that dramatically impact human health, safety and wellbeing. In addition to a number of natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc as communities scramble to control the spread of the virus and respond to unprecedented challenges such as the social upheaval of […]
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The business case for healthy communities
Over the past decade, public health research has established a clear and significant connection between where individuals grow up and their lifelong health outcomes. Across the United States, neighborhoods just a few miles away from one another can have average life expectancies that differ by up to 30 years.
Read more WELL or Fitwel? Getting to Know Healthy Building Certification Systems
The green building certification movement began with a focus on environmental sustainability. Addressing core environmental issues related to energy, water, and waste was the foundation for early green building rating systems like LEED, a program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Read more Green Building – A Tool to Improve Employees’ Health and Productivity
People spend around 90,000 hours at the workplace on average over their lifetime. A couple of researches have shown that the design of a workplace has a significant impact on the physical and mental health, well-being and productivity of its users.
Read more Bad mood is important for good results
The expectation of an easy, predictable, problem-free existence has never occurred in the lives of any of us It turns out that stress is the new manager in companies. Some believe that it is up to us to manage our own well-being, but end up seeing how often the situation gets out of hand by […]
Read more Shifting the Boundaries of Workplace Design and Experience
As wellness rises up the corporate agenda, we are fast realizing there is real opportunity to add value to real estate assets, enhance human health, achieve excellence in general building operations and, from a business perspective, generate savings in employee costs.
Read more Health & Well-being: Time for Residential Action
It may not be feasible for every building to have its own pool or gym, but all Residential owners should be thinking critically about what health and well-being interventions could benefit their properties. And for owners who have already taken steps to improve their building’s energy performance, health and well-being can be approached with a similar process.
Read more Changing Perception about Green Buildings and the Importance of ESG by focusing on Health and Wellness
People do not often consider how the places where they spend their time affect their health. When asked how often they consider the health and environmental impacts of the buildings they spend time in, 39 percent said they never considered it or do not know.
Read more Green Schools: Ensuring Student Health and Well-being
With so much time being spent inside buildings, it is no surprise that the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) has an effect on the building occupants’ health and well-being.
Read more Air Quality Monitoring and Analytics in Buildings
Most people know that the air we breathe outside can be polluted with harmful particles that affect our health. What is less often considered, is that this is no different and sometimes even worse in indoor environments.
Read more The Healthy Building Movement: Impact on People, Planet, and Profit
Rising temperatures not only increase energy use, but also result in accelerated rates of heat-related illness and death. These concerns are especially relevant in urban areas, which often struggle to mitigate the impacts of heat island effect— a phenomenon where more urbanized areas are hotter than surrounding rural areas.
Read more Health and Well-being – what’s the point(s)?
If we strive to achieve GRESB Green Star accreditation and do not make serious efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of the occupants why bother? Why go to all that effort and only reach half of the building’s potential?
Read more Air Pollution and Indoor Air: is this ‘invisible’ danger becoming more visible?
Research continues to find links between air pollution and health effects; a recent study has associated short-term exposure to PM with increased symptoms of psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, in children.
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A Budding Interest in Health and Well-being in Real Estate
Incorporating health and well-being into real estate design takes time and investment. Why, then, do companies make the effort? To find out, we spoke with Elena Cernov, Sustainability Consultant at Schneider Electric Energy & Sustainability Services.
Read more Health & Well-being in offices: are you a Squirrel or a Beaver?
Three among many examples illustrate this underlying trend: real estate projects now include plenty of services to tenants, certifications focused on health and well-being gain in popularity, and research projects try to quantify the impact of wellbeing on productivity.
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