Sustainable Building Groups Add New Health, Safety Ratings as Businesses Return from Pandemic
Two of the commercial real estate industry’s leading organizations that provide global benchmarks for sustainable building design and operations launched new guidelines for safety, sanitation and social distancing programs as businesses cautiously reopen during the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. Green Building Council on Tuesday released four new “Safety First” credits aimed at certifying products, protocols and education for cleaning and disinfecting, indoor air quality and plumbing and safe reoccupancy of buildings under its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, the world’s most widely used green-building rating system.
Another industry group, the New York-based International WELL Building Institute, launched the "WELL Health-Safety Rating" for all building and facility types, a third-party certification and rating of facility operations, maintenance protocols and design strategies “to address a post COVID-19 environment.” The rating is among the institute’s first initiatives since it assembled a task force in late March to guide the group’s response to the pandemic. The task force includes almost 600 public health and virology experts, government officials, academics, business leaders architects and real estate professionals.
Ensuring building and occupant health are a critical part of both halting spread of the virus and creating a foundation for the industry’s economic and environmental well-being, according to U.S. Green Building Council Chief Executive Mahesh Ramanujam.
“These new credits are a first step in helping the building and construction industry demonstrate its commitment to sustainable strategies as part of building a healthier, more resilient future,” Ramanujam said in a statement.
As millions of workers are expected to return to offices and other facilities in coming months, property owners are focused on certifying technology and best practices to ensure that their properties are positioned as safe places to work, live and visit. Among businesses implementing new cleaning and hygiene standards is Tangram Interior of Santa Fe Springs, California, which partnered with a cleaning firm to provide a workplace sanitization program that allows its clients to disinfect and deep clean commercial businesses, said David Teper, Tangram’s general manager of light construction and flooring.
Some brokers and landlords in the commercial real estate industry have speculated that health and safety certifications may be an attractive amenity for building owners hoping to lure back workers who may be apprehensive about reentering public environments such as offices after months of staying at home.
Certification Concerns
The LEED rating system, which was developed in 1993, has faced receding acceptance over the years, with comments from executives suggesting certifying energy-efficiency standards aren't worth the investment and may contribute to “greenwashing,” a term referring to faculties and other products that may not be as environmentally friendly as they are touted. The system grew from one standard for new construction to a system of interrelated standards covering building design and construction to maintenance and operations, with interest in the certification picking up in the past decade over concerns about climate change and greenhouse gases.
It remains to be seen whether the COVID-19 guidelines will evoke any criticism or boost building owners' public image as being environmentally and social responsible.
The U.S. Green Building Council’s Safety First credits are a pilot program that is part of the group’s economic recovery plan released last month to develop sustainable best practices that align with public health and industry guidelines. The credits can be used by LEED projects that are already certified or are undergoing certification. The Washington, D.C.-based council also issued a call to submit technical proposals for review by staff and LEED committees for the newest version of the rating system, LEED v4.1.
The cleaning and disinfecting credit requires facilities to create a policy and implement procedures that follow green cleaning practices that foster a healthy indoor environment and worker safety. In addition to using approved products the credit requires procedures and training for cleaning personnel, tenant and occupant education and other services controlled by building management.
The “re-enter the workplace” credit is a tool to plan for repopulating buildings as well as measuring progress, identifying social distancing and other operations and human behavior that take precautions against the spread of the virus. The credit aligns with the new American Institute of Architects reoccupancy assessment tool and requires transparent reporting and evaluation to encourage improvement.
The LEED water system credit helps building management reduce the risk that occupants are exposed to stagnant or degraded water that is unsafe to drink or use, while indoor air quality credit requires building teams to ensure that HVAC and other air systems are operating properly and are capable of handling adjustments to ventilation and physical distancing that may minimize virus spread.
The WELL Health-Safety Rating is accepting registrations this month from all types of buildings and facilities from offices, manufacturing plants and apartment buildings to retail stores, restaurants, hotels and even sports stadiums and arenas. Current WELL-registered projects can earn the health safety rating as part of their existing certification.
“Our buildings and the people who tend them are our first line of defense for keeping us safe and healthy, and the current pandemic has confirmed that health is a material economic consideration of the first order,” council President Rachel Gutter said in a statement.
