Investa to shape the first WELL rating tool for existing office buildings
From left to right: Kamyar
Vaghar, President, IWBI, Paul Scialla, Founder, IWBI, Hugh Irving,
Development Manager, Investa, Rachel Gutter, Chief Product Officer,
IWBI, Rick Fedrizzi, CEO, IWBI
04 July 2017
Investa: As
Australia’s leading office manager Investa was selected as a
representative for existing office
buildings at last week’s International WELL Building Institute’s
(IWBI) Global Advisory Roundtable in New York. Along with 27 other
global commercial office owners and managers, Investa will help shape
the future direction of this new
WELL rating tool.
Investa has been working alongside the IWBI since it launched its
current WELL tool in Australia to refine the tool for application to a
portfolio of existing assets. The aim of the Roundtable is to refine a
new certification pathway within the WELL Building Standard, that takes
advantage of the unique efficiencies available in a portfolio of
existing buildings. Properties will be rewarded for applying enhanced
operational and maintenance strategies, as well as wellness policies and
programs.
Investa’s participation in the Roundtable is the culmination of more
that 12 months of collaboration with IWBI, with the outcome expected to
provide a clear path to delivering global best practice in healthy work
environments.
Nina James, General Manager, Corporate Sustainability at Investa said:
“Buildings more than 10 years old make up more then 72% of office space
in Australia’s major CBDs, so the application of a tool geared
specifically for existing buildings has the potential to make a
significant impact.
Increasing the health and wellbeing of those that work in our buildings
is not a fad in the office sector or in the broader community. As host
to approximately 100,000 people every day, we see it as our role to
ensure they are as healthy and productive as possible and that our
tenant organisations can optimise their workplace offering by having
WELL standards embedded in their building,” said Ms James.
Investa’s track record in actively managing its buildings for optimal
environmental performance and its ability to re-position newly acquired
buildings from low performance to market leading, means it is well
positioned to lead the charge in Australia.
Hugh Irving, Development Manager and Investa’s representative at the
IWBI roundtable in New York said: “As the global standard in measuring,
certifying and monitoring building features that impact tenant’s health
and wellbeing, through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort
and mind, WELL provides a link between building design and construction
and the health of its occupants.
With the introduction of a scientific approach for optimising occupant
wellness in existing office buildings that can be measured and
replicated, we have a clear pathway to establishing a new benchmark in
how owners, managers and developers can deliver much more than just the
space to the employees of our tenant organisations.”
Richard Fedrizzi, Chairman and CEO, IWBI said: “We know that existing
buildings present both our biggest challenges and our biggest
opportunities in terms of building performance, but they also hold the
key to widescale improvement of the health and wellbeing of the millions
who work in them every day.”
In May this year, Investa’s Barrack Place,
Sydney development was the first building in Australia to receive
WELL Core and Shell Gold Precertification. In November last year,
Investa was the first Australian property company to commit to a science
based target of net zero emissions by 2040, ambitiously addressing the
carbon impact of the entire Investa office portfolio across operations,
design and construction and powering of the buildings.
--ENDS--
Source: Investa - www.investa.com.au
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