SOURCE: International WELL Building Institute
SUMMARY:
Global network of subject matter experts and professionals from leading production homebuilders and other segments of the industry to advise on ways designers and developers can design, build, measure and verify strategies to address health and well-being in residential spaces
DESCRIPTION:
NEW YORK, May 18, 2021 /3BLMedia/ – The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) today announced the launch of its new WELL Homes Advisory to guide IWBI in expanding its evidence-based, third-party verified WELL offerings to address the design and construction of homes worldwide. The Advisory will help identify key challenges and opportunities for expanding the science-backed programs rooted in the WELL Building Standard (WELL) to include the single-family footprint as well as enhance the existing pathway for multi-family residences.
Co-chaired by globally renowned experts from the home-building, architecture and real estate markets, the WELL Homes Advisory is bringing together leading builders and developers, architects and engineers, public health and building scientists, government officials and academics, and other real estate professionals to help develop and scale equitable strategies that address health and safety in the home environment, the place where we spend most of our time, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Co-chairs are joined by subject matter experts representing leading organizations in the homebuilding community including KB Home, Toll Brothers, Brookfield Residential, Taylor Morrison, Pulte Group, Frasers Property Australia and S2A Modular.
The Advisory will collaborate with IWBI’s Standard Development team by providing industry insights and identifying emerging technologies and evidence-based best practices most applicable in a single-family residence. The critical recommendations from the Advisory will help guide designers and developers as they contribute to the evolution of WELL’s work to codify design and performance strategies for home environments worldwide.
“The WELL Homes Advisory serves as an important vehicle to deliver IWBI’s commitment to advancing health and well-being to all people through every building typology,” said Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO of International WELL Building Institute. “Our homes play an outsized role in supporting our health, safety and well-being and we need to make them the best they can be.”
She noted that multi-family residential buildings are already an integral part of the WELL Building Standard, work that has been reinforced in the recently launched WELL v2 and that the Advisory will help expand IWBI’s work on the healthy home front by including single-family homes. “The work of the WELL Homes Advisory goes hand-in-hand with IWBI’s Health Equity Advisory by helping make healthier residences available and accessible to all,” Hodgdon added.
“Today, much attention is being paid to the smart features in the homebuilding space, but we must ensure our technological advances serve to promote the health and well-being of the people who live in these homes,” said Paul Barnes, President of San Diego Division of Shea Homes. “An industry-wide standard that benchmarks health outcomes in people’s homes will ultimately help transform the way we build the most important places in our lives.”
“By taking a human-centered approach to design, building and innovation, we can enable better ways of living for people at home,” said Christine Marvin, Vice President of Design Strategy at Marvin. “We are inspired by the dedicated focus to not only advance the conversation around a healthy home, but the momentum to make meaningful change. Integrating evidence-based products and solutions inspired by how we live will help us redefine the traditional home and support the health and well-being of generations to come.”
The Advisory is led by a group of highly regarded global co-chairs representing diverse areas of expertise and perspectives, including:
- Bill Browning, Managing Partner, Terrapin Bright Green
- Brett Singer, PhD, Head, Sustainable Energy & Environmental Systems Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Brian Tsong-Hour Chen, President, Building Environment and Health Promotion Association, Taiwan – China
- Casey Yates, Vice President, Ducted Systems, Sales & Marketing, Johnson Controls
- Christine Marvin, Vice President, Design Strategy, Marvin
- Christopher Kafura, Executive Engineering Director - North America Residential and Light Commercial Systems, Carrier Global Corporation
- David E. Jacobs, PhD, CIH, Chief Scientist, National Center for Healthy Housing
- David Goswick, Principal & Head of Strategic Partnerships, House X | The Smart Home Marketplace
- Josh Stack, Founder & Principal, Stack Resilience LLC
- Katie Davis, Vice President, Engineering Residential HVAC & Supply, Trane Technologies
- Larry Brydon, Vice President, Business Development and Regulatory Affairs, Cricket Energy Holdings Inc (Cricket Energy)
- Larry Zarker, Chief Executive Officer, Building Performance Institute
- Laurel Blatchford, Managing Director, Blue Meridian Partners
- Paul Barnes, President, Shea Homes, San Diego Division
- Samantha Peart, Director of Sustainability, Development Victoria
- Shigeru Urashima, Co-Founder, Green Building Japan (GBJ)
- Stella Chen, Senior Property Manager, Property & Asset Management Services, Savills Property Services (Shanghai) Company Limited
IWBI expects to add additional co-chairs and members to the Advisory to meet the growing industry interest in collaborating on the expansion of the WELL ecosystem to single-family residences. Click here for more information on the WELL Homes Advisory.
About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the world’s leading organization focused on deploying people first places to advance a global culture of health. IWBI mobilizes its community through the administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL) and the WELL Health-Safety Rating, management of the WELL AP credential, the pursuit of applicable research, the development of educational resources, and advocacy for policies that promote health and wellbeing everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.
International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL, WELL Portfolio, The WELL Conference, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rating and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.
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KEYWORDS: IWBI, WELL Homes Advisory, International Well Building Institute
