Skanska introduces WELL certificate to the market of Central and Eastern Europe. It is a system which measures quality of office space, placing health and well-being of employees first. Spark office park is to be one of the first certified buildings. Additionally, Skanska plans to certify other projects in Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary.
The WELL Building Standard is a system which is concentrated on influence of working and living place on our health. The system is managed by the international Building Institute™ (IWBI™). In order to receive the WELL certification, the owner of a building has to perform tests and evaluation, which are conducted by Green Business Certification Inc., that is a partner of IWBI. The owner is obliged to verify the initially met assumptions every three years.
It is a very important business decision for us and the next step in creating timeless working places, which put needs and comfort of employees first. In 2009, as the first developer in the region of Central and Easter Europe, we made a decision to build all our projects in accordance with the requirements of LEED certification, bringing tenants, investors and the entire office real estate market around to green buildings. We are convinced that this time it will be similar. At present, when LEED is actually a common standard, we go one step further and set another sustainable trend. WELL is an innovative tool in Central and Eastern Europe, which will allow us to focus on creating friendly and healthy working places even more efficiently – explains Katarzyna Zawodna, Director of Skanska Commercial Development Europe.
WELL certificate is a system which measures, certifies and monitors the quality of elements in the working environment with a positive influence on health and well-being, including air and water quality, access to daylight, sense of comfort, access to healthy food, or influence of office on body and mind. Additional benefits for employees, such as sport activities and vegetable gardens, will be available in the certified offices in the nearest future.
WELL standard was first introduced in the United States in 2014. WELL certification was devised basing upon scientific surveys in medicine. They consisted in checking influence of buildings, where we spend up to 90 per cent of our time, on our health and well-being.