Beyond Sustainability: human health demands carbon reduction
In the past 10 years in which I have been practicing and sharing the teachings of wellness in the built environment, the recent pandemic years have amplified the fact that human wellbeing is the top priority for building owners, managers and their occupants.
Recent studies and survey findings, such as that from the 2019 STO Building Group sustainability survey, reveal attracting and retaining employees and tenants as the number one reason for implementing wellness amenities that prioritize human health and equity in their spaces.
As a post-pandemic paradigm focused on health resilience in buildings and communities takes root, leading organizations are systematically elevating human health and well-being in how they implement sustainability initiatives. To maximize positive health outcomes in concert with sustainability goals, practitioners from different sectors are now coalescing around a set of strategies and interventions to deliver on health, equity and well-being in everything from building projects to city policy, and from federal programs to environmental, social and governance frameworks.
Savvy and innovative business leaders are responding to occupier trends as well. In addition to satisfying their health needs, sophisticated tenants are demanding stricter sustainability standards from their employers. Employers and landlords alike are being called to revisit their strategic plans and create more education and accountability around their targets and progress to date.
Going beyond traditional ESG efforts like adding healthy active programming for employees through Fitwel and reducing energy and water consumption through LEED; the most impactful goal among expert design groups is tracking and maintaining decarbonization.
The rapid reduction of embodied carbon in the built environment is a critical component in slowing down climate change. Building owners, managers and occupiers are being urged to perform embodied carbon assessments, taking stock of the production, transportation, use and disposal of materials used in the walls, ceilings, floors, etc in the built environment. By tweaking the structure or type of glass of a wall partition, or the type of acoustic ceiling tiles used, and especially the type of resilient flooring and adhesives used like the ones from Interface; this can lead to enhanced productivity of the workforce and performance of the building in which they operate.
Groups like HLW International, have mastered methods for assessing embodied carbon in office interiors, which is a great way for redevelopment projects to mitigate or even offset a project’s carbon emissions. A Health Product Declaration (HPD) can provide a chemical inventory of a building product and characterizes the level of concern about each ingredient. HPDs are developed, administered and hosted on the Health Product Declaration Collaborative® website.
By looking to nature, we can find solutions all over the world for solving our embodied carbon challenges. In this Ted Talk, Erin Meezan talks about how Interface’s flooring was inspired by nature’s own glue-like substances.
One of the most common building interior improvements, impacted heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic, and is a heavy focus on the WELL v2 standard, has been indoor air quality improvements through the installation of Merv13 filters in existing ductwork, and by eliminating the use of recirculated air, for example. Being mindful of outdoor air quality and humidity levels as well if using external ventilation - it will go a long way toward improving indoor air quality.
Since the built environment creates a staggering 40% of the world’s emissions, architects, engineers, and owners play a key role in improving our collective sustainability efforts in the climate change fight, the AIA 2023 Challenge was created to help organizations follow a set of standards and goals for reaching net zero emissions in the built environment. This is not meant to share the fact that our sustainability efforts to date have not been near aggressive enough; in fact, we are seeing hopeful new legislation in many municipalities and a recent report from USGBC showing that “many types of Zero Net Energy (ZNE) buildings can be built with no added upfront costs and some commercial buildings can see return on investment in as little as one year”. There are plenty of tools out there to help get you started. If you’re interested in modeling your project’s embodied carbon footprint or achieving green building certification credits, check out oneclickLCA.
The rising green economy means we have an opportunity to be upskilled and work together to address the problems of excess carbon in business operations. Below are some approaches to get started with your ESG and Net Zero goals. If you have any questions about creating a healthy building scorecard to help you navigate your progress toward your goals, reach out to lilli@welladaptedgroup.com.
Reducing Energy and Water Consumption
Low flow, low flush fixtures
Energy star rated appliances
Improving Occupant Health and Wellbeing
Making stairways more prominent, aesthetically pleasing and encourage employees to use them with challenges and rewards
Parents’ room or other quiet room that can be used for mental health and infant care while at work
Certified first responder on every floor, first aid kit within 30 s of each workstation
Daylight modeling and automated lighting
Green Cleaning Plan
Review toxins and efficacy of cleaning products
Ductwork
MERV13 filters
Do not recirculate air
Materials
Ensure a low VOC content
HPD/EPD documents to show positive impact on environment
