For Landlords, Active Management of Well-being in Existing Buildings Means a Focus on Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort
Well-being is a large and complex space and its arrival as a key issue for landlords was both slow to come and quick to arrive. However, what is becoming clear is that, for building owners, how buildings promote well-being is quickly emerging as a core part of their customer service narrative. But how should they […]
The important role of safety in maintaining a person’s Health and Well-being in the built environment
From Hippocrates to Abraham Maslow, there is a long-held belief that the built environment can play a part in both improving and damaging human health and wellbeing. Maslow highlighted that physical safety comes second only to physiological needs for humans to feel healthy and motivated in their surroundings. More recently, The United Nations Sustainable Development […]
Sitting at a desk all day, staring at a computer screen, eyes strained and shoulders slumped —sound like you? Health Impacts of the Office The typical American spends nearly a quarter of their week at work. Most of us, however, don’t think about the toll that work takes on our health. Many people neglect their […]
Everyone knows that everyone loves natural light. Modern building design has been driven by occupants’ demand for open floorplans, tall ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glass. The proverbial “corner office” is the best spot because it has the most windows. And a recent study published in Harvard Business Review confirms that daylight and views are employees’ top […]
Rise of Wellness Across the Real Estate Industry The rise of the wellness market has spurred a new level of innovation across a range of industries as companies strive to differentiate themselves in pursuit of impacting the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits. And the real estate industry is no exception, with health-promoting […]
Power to the people: Improving health and wellbeing with post-occupancy evaluations
As human health and wellness has become more mainstream within the real estate industry, tenants, developers, and property managers have grown more sophisticated and comprehensive in their approach for addressing it. Results from the 2018 GRESB Real Estate Assessment demonstrate how participation in the 2018 Health & Well-being module has grown significantly since its initial […]
For many professionals working in the built environment, Health and Wellbeing still feel like relatively new buzzwords. In some ways this is surprising given that the subject area has been around for many years; for example, the term “sick building syndrome” was coined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1986. In reality, though, the […]
Employee Health and Well-being – Walk the Talk or Talk the Talk?
To comply with regulatory requirements, more and more listed companies are publishing their sustainability reports or environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports. In these reports, it is not uncommon to see sentences like “To safeguard our people’s physical and mental well-being, we endeavour to create a workplace that is free from work-related injury.” If we […]
Human Nature: the Health and Well-being benefits of nature in the built environment
Despite buildings and cities seeming to represent human disconnection or escape from the wild, nature has always had a place in the built environment. Parks have long been central to urban planning, the design of buildings and structures often incorporates nature or nature-like forms and patterns, and house plants have been utilized to improve the […]
