The Edge - Volume One

Continual improvement and adaptation The building industry can often fall into a “let’s stick with what works” mentality. Contrary to the static ‘tried and true’ approach, green building rating systems are inherently designed to be flexible and dynamic – adapting to the latest technologies and best practices while continuing to raise the bar through increased technical rigor. The need for continual improvement has brought us LEED Version 4 as well as WELL Version 2, while spawning relatively new systems such as Fitwel and Reset. While we can’t predict the future, we can help to make it better. The question that project teams should address isn’t “should we certify?” but “how can we leverage the best practices outlined in sustainability and wellness frameworks to create buildings that minimize resource consumption while enhancing human health and wellbeing?” The beauty of frameworks such as LEED, WELL and Fitwel is that they are designed to benefit all projects, not just those with a plaque on the wall.

It’s up to us to put the concepts to practice, creating a better future for our people and our planet.

B LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is one of the most popular green building certification programs used worldwide.

B WELL The WELL Building Standard™ (WELL)

marries best practices in design and construction with evidence-based medical and scientific research – harnessing the built environment as a vehicle to support human health and well-being. B FITWEL Fitwel is a building certification system that optimizes buildings to support health, by focusing on a scorecard rating of design and operational strategies to address the broad range of health behaviors and risks that impact occupants.

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