What does it mean to be Fitwel Certified?

Fitwel-certified buildings have your health at top of mind. But, why does it matter?

We spend 90% of our time inside buildings; therefore, the way buildings are designed and operated has a direct impact on our health and wellbeing. Because you are in a Fitwel building, with strategies designed and implemented for you and with your highest priorities in mind, you are benefiting from improved physical health, community health, occupant safety, feelings of well-being, and more.

Fitwel strives to prioritize the health and wellness of all occupants and Fitwel certification uses specialized scorecards, relevant to the type of property, to ensure that the building implements and maintains health-focused protocols and amenities to carry out these healthy practices on your own. Fitwel considers occupant health and satisfaction an important asset to tenant satisfaction and productivity in workplaces.

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Here are the seven main health categories that Fitwel evaluates when certifying healthy building projects.

1. Impacts Surrounding Community Health

Strategies that impact surrounding community health broaden the impact of the project past the health of on-site occupants, reaching those who live, work, play, or learn in the neighboring areas

2. Reduces Morbidity and Absenteeism

Strategies that reduce morbidity and absenteeism promote decreased rates of chronic disease and mental health conditions, resulting in a healthy office with reductions in disease transmission and fewer missed days of work.

3. Supports Social Equity for Vulnerable Populations

Strategies that support social equity for vulnerable populations ensure that a range of populations, including children, elderly, disabled, or socio-economically disadvantaged persons have increased access to health-promoting opportunities whether through universal accessibility, pricing incentives for healthier food options, targeted health-promoting amenities, or increased access to public transportation.

4. Instills Feelings of Well-Being

Strategies that instill feelings of well-being promote inclusion, relaxation, and perceptions of safety through rejuvenating and clean spaces, an enhanced connection to nature, and opportunities for social engagement.

5. Enhances Access to Healthy Foods

Strategies that enhance access to healthy foods provide occupants with expanded availability to fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious food options by diversifying the outlets and sources of healthier food options, promoting healthier choices, and reducing cost of healthier options through pricing incentives.

6. Promotes Occupant Safety

Strategies that promote occupant safety decrease risk of crime and injury, protect bicyclists and pedestrians from vehicular traffic, and increase stair safety.

7. Increases Physical Activity

Strategies that increase physical activity incorporate opportunities for movement into everyday life whether through encouraging active transportation, promoting stair use, or expanding access to indoor and outdoor fitness areas and equipment.

Want to know how your project is impacting health and wellness? Want to communicate how each strategy relates to health? Be sure to check out the Areas of Strength tab on your Scorecard Summary.

Start by navigating to your project’s dashboard on the Fitwel Platform:

Click on the “scorecard summary” button:

The Scorecard Summary tab shows you an overview of how you have responded to the scorecard, and if certified, a full list of strategies and points you achieved.

The Areas of Opportunity tab shows you an overview of all the strategies that you didn’t pursue or are not currently meeting.  This is your gap analysis and road map to decide how you might want to make continual improvements over time.  This list is ranked from strategies worth the most amount of points (strategies with more multi-faceted Health impacts receive more points) to strategies worth the least amount of points

The Areas of Strength tab shows you an overview of all the strategies that you are pursuing or have achieved if your project is certified. Here is where you will find each strategy achieved for a certified project and how that strategy relates to health. We encourage you to use these talking points to share with your team, your client(s) and the tenant(s) relevant to your project.