Real Estate Journal — Owners, Developers & Managers — Environmental/Green Buildings — February 22 - March 14, 2019 — 11B
www.marejournal.com M id A tlantic
E nvironmental /G reen B uildings By Drew DePalma, LEED AP, WELL AP, M&E Engineers Wellness is the New Green
in the corpo- rate space. In fact wellness is considered to be the new ‘green’ and is expected to be the next trillion dol- lar industry. W
ellness has become a very trendy term lately, particularly
so it makes sense that 99% of employers are expected to offer some sort of wellness program by 2020. If implemented cor- rectly, these health initiatives can have a significant effect on employee retention and ef- ficiency. Companies are always trying to cut costs and increase profits, yet the happiness and productively of their employees are often overlooked. Energy typically accounts for 1% of expenses, with rent and opera- tions being about 9%. Salary and benefits on the other hand amounts to a staggering 90% of a business’s liabilities. With these statistics in hand, it is
clear that investing in people will provide the best return on investment. In 2015, Harvard University worked with lead- ing academic research institu- tions on a study designed to simulate indoor environmental quality conditions within the built environment and evalu- ate the impacts on human per- formance. This double blind study included 24 participants exposed to three different types of building conditions (conven- tional, green, and green with enhanced ventilation) for six full work days and asked them to complete cognitive tests at the end of each day. The results
far surpassed the researchers’ expectations. It found that cog- nitive scores were 61% higher in green building conditions and 101% higher in enhanced green building conditions! This study alone provides strong evidence that favorable indoor environmental quality condi- tions results in more focused and productive occupants. In 2014 a new building well- ness certification program called the WELL Building standard was launched. It is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact
human health and well-being through ten concepts: air, wa- ter, nourishment, light, move- ment, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind, and commu- nity. With a mission to improve human health and well-being in buildings and communities across the world, it already has 560+ projects totaling more than 120M square feet in over 30 countries. There is also another less stringent alterna- tive program called Fitwel that was created by the US CDC. Wellness is here to stay and deserves our attention. DrewDePalma, LEED AP, WELL AP.
Drew DePalma
com). Perform a visual survey for moisture intrusion andmold growth. Consider purchasing a moisture meter and thermal imaging, but, most importantly, have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for compliance with Local Law 55 of 2018. Lee Wasserman is the founder of LEW Corpo- ration (Est. 1992), is a nationally recognized industry leader who spe- cializes in Environmental microbial and lead-based paint issues. continued from page 10B New York Ci t y Mold Local Law . . . For decades architects and engineers have been applying sustainable and energy effi- cient design features in an ef- fort to create high performance buildings that use less energy and water. There is no doubt that these environmentally conscience designs are better for the planet and reduce on- going costs, but usually there isn’t much thought put into the health of the building occupants beyond code requirements. Peo- ple spend roughly 90% of their time indoors, which means the indoor environment can have a significant impact on one’s health. In the 1970s during the oil embargo, buildings were being designed to be more air tight and with less outdoor air ventilation in order to improve energy efficiency. This in turn created sick building syndrome, aka tight building syndrome, which is comprised of various nonspecific symptoms that are linked directly to poor building circulation and airborne con- taminants. The ventilation rate of these types of buildings was reduced to 5 CFM per person. The standard rate for today’s office buildings is 20 CFM per person. A result survey shows that more than 90% of employees’ attitude about work is adverse- ly affected by the quality of their workplace environment,
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