Evolving the Fitwel Standard: Connecting Value to Health

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Written By Marcos Reynaga
"Health drives value in real estate. The evidence is clear." — Sara Karerat, Managing Director, Center for Active Design

In the last two years, the Center for Active Design’s focus has expanded to encompass two dominant research questions: 

  1. What are the health outcomes related to the risks of climate change?

  2. Which strategies within the Fitwel® Standard have a tangible impact on value creation and risk mitigation?

Now, we can answer both.

We know that the business of real estate is based on responding to the needs of society, and today, the pressing need is how to adequately adapt to climate change.

After yet again living through the hottest year on record and witnessing devastating climate-related weather events unfold with regularity, we were compelled to put climate change at the center of our work.

The true costs of climate change can only be understood when looking through a public health lens, and going forward, we know that the real estate industry must prioritize the reduction of carbon emissions while adapting our built environment to be resilient to climate change’s many threats.

Adaptation will not only save untold lives, but also mitigate the most severe financial risks to the industry. 

Climate change will dominate real estate investment decisions, and while there are multiple metrics the industry has to track progress toward net-zero, the industry still lacks standardized, quantifiable metrics that track stakeholder health. Until now.

We knew we needed to meet the moment and respond to rising demand for clarity and consistency, so our team developed standardized metrics, taken directly from the Fitwel Standard, to define a social standard for the industry. 

In doing so, we also identified the strategies within Fitwel with the greatest tangible impact on value. 

In our second issue of Building Health, we draw insights from the historical precedents set by the healthy building movement to address the most pressing challenge of our time: climate change. We examine the major health and financial risks associated with this challenge and distill six targeted outcomes for how assets can demonstrate value while mitigating climate change risk.

 

As your trusted partner, we use our expertise, as well as insights from industry leaders, to translate this analysis and evidence into action, equipping you with not only knowledge, but actionable ways to future-proof assets by quantifying the ’S’ through the evolving Fitwel Standard.

Download our latest issue today.

Sara Karerat

Sara Karerat
Managing Director
Center for Active Design

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