Why all buildings can be healthy buildings

WELL buildings may be a worthy goal. But a host of smart strategies can support building occupants to thrive. Just ask Rachel Blackburn, who’s part of the Dexus team behind Wellplace.

Dexus’ customer experience manager, Blackburn (pictured) has a Master’s degree in public health, but chose to work in property because “people are ultimately what makes a building hum”.

She says the property industry has a “huge opportunity” to “positively impact the health and wellbeing of building occupants”.

Several Dexus buildings, including the company’s headquarters in Sydney and Dexus’ new development at 100 Mount Street in North Sydney, are currently seeking certification under the WELL Building Standard, and international rating system that assesses the impact of buildings on human health and wellbeing.

“But for existing buildings, WELL ratings can be challenging to achieve when you are retrofitting,” Blackburn explains.

How can building owners demonstrate their commitment to wellbeing without a WELL rating?

Dexus was already offering a host of wellness services to its customers, from indoor environment testing to Pilates classes, boot camps and yoga, but Blackburn admits it “needed a better structure”.

So, Blackburn and her team “wrapped all our wellness activities” into Wellplace – a program that provides a suite of health and wellbeing services, amenities and events.

“Wellplace offers customers of all sizes the services that are usually limited to large corporations – and in buildings that would otherwise fall outside the remit of WELL,” she explains.

“One of the biggest benefits of Wellplace is its support of smaller businesses – those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to provide onsite health checks and classes, for instance.”

More than 600 wellness events have been held in Dexus buildings this year alone. Partnerships with fitness centres, physiotherapists and nutritionists provide customers with discounted memberships and services.

Dexus is also using the newly-improved NABERS Indoor Environment tool to benchmark its buildings against best practice.

In addition, Dexus is upgrading end-of-trip facilities at buildings around the country. The latest of these is The Icon at Australia Square, offering a wellness centre with fitness and wellbeing classes, along with a well-appointed set of change rooms and cycling facilities.

Luxurious locker rooms may not be for everyone, but Dexus has seen a spike in customers commuting to work by bike. Complementary programs, such as a ride-to-work service, have also been positively received.

“Health and wellbeing is different to each of us. Some people like the gym, others want cooking classes. It’s not about handing people a Fitbit and sending them on their way,” Blackburn adds.

 

On the hunt for healthy buildings

Of the 5,000 office buildings tracked in the Property Council’s Office Market Report, just nine have achieved certification under the WELL Building Standard. In total, 59 projects are either certified or registered, taking Australia to third place behind the United States and China in terms of number of projects and square metres of space.

A new version of the WELL rating tool, released in late May, has the potential to push the wellness agenda in Australia. This second version promises a “laser focus” on existing buildings and commercial interiors.

But not everyone is convinced that Australia’s property industry needs wellbeing rating systems. Dr Roderic Bunn, an international expert in building performance evaluation, has recently been in Australia to share his insights into occupant satisfaction.

 “Human beings are very loosely calibrated, and wellbeing is linked to a range of things external to a workplace – outlook, age, weight, health, family circumstances and so on,” Bunn says.

“This makes it hard to measure wellbeing let alone associate the measurements with specific building factors unless there is a very clear association.”

Even when a building has evident shortcomings, people can still be comfortable and be productive, he says.

Bunn urges Australia’s property industry not to read too much into published academic research, as the results are often unable to be replicated or generalised.

“Building owners and occupiers should instead study their own building properly, understand what is working and what isn’t and how occupants perceive their working environment, and use that as a baseline to make interventions and improvements.

“If the occupants say the air quality is stuffy and smelly, the temperature is poor, and they have symptoms like dry eyes, then of course facilities managers must analyse the ventilation system. You don’t need a wellbeing consultant to do that – you just need good engineering systems maintenance.

“As human beings, we know that human behaviour is based on what people perceive, not necessarily a ‘correct’ set point on a thermostat, so asset managers also need to tune into human needs rather than impose conditions,” he adds.

 

Healthy buildings are here to stay

Regardless of how building owners deliver healthy buildings, it’s clear that customers are demanding them.

“Every building is different, because each community of tenants is different. But our customers across the country have told us directly that health and wellbeing are right at the top of their priorities,” Dexus’ Blackburn says.

“Eighteen months ago, wellness may have been a buzzword, but I think our eyes are open now. Everyone can see that sitting down for eight hours each day is not good for our health.”

The majority of Australia’s lifestyle diseases are associated with poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking and stress, Blackburn explains.

“By acknowledging that office work can influence these lifestyle diseases, we have a really great opportunity to make a positive impact.

“For us, it’s not an economic decision. It’s about being the right thing to do.”