Fitwel Accelerates Global Adoption of Healthy Building Certification at Scale; Announces New Champions, Partners, & Providers

Leading insurance, real estate, financial services, and sustainability companies commit to health at scale.

NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fitwel today announced the latest cohort of companies to join its global community of Champions, Providers, and Partners, signaling an intensifying race for quality to meet the demand for healthy buildings in real estate. 

Originally created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Fitwel is the leading healthy building certification used by top real estate companies across the globe to ensure their assets are designed and operated to positively impact the health, productivity, and satisfaction of residents, employees, and tenants. The Fitwel Standard translates the global public health evidence base into practical, implementable design and operational strategies and guidelines to be used at the building level, community level, and at scale.

"The demand for healthy spaces and communities has never been higher. Just in recent weeks, the world has felt the impact of record-breaking high temperatures, coastal flooding, and far-reaching toxic air quality due to climate change and wildfires, but often left out of the conversation is the inextricable link between the health of the planet and the mental and physical health of people," says Joanna Frank, President & CEO of the Center for Active Design, the sole operator of Fitwel. "Evidence shows that responding to this demand with a health-focused approach mitigates risk now and in the future. We're thrilled to welcome these trailblazing companies as we continue on our mission to transform the real estate market by leading the healthy building movement."

Fitwel Champions
Champions are real estate owners and managers that have committed to implementing Fitwel Healthy Building Certification at scale. Recently, the following companies have signed on as dedicated Fitwel Champions, joining a community representing more than $3 trillion in AUM and over 410 million square feet of space across the globe:

• MetLife Investment Management
• Manulife Investment Management
• The Green Cities Company

"Creating healthy spaces within our buildings continues to be a top priority," said Regan Smith, Managing Director, Sustainable Investing, Private Markets, Manulife Investment Management. "We're glad to see the increased recognition across the real estate industry of how interconnected buildings and human health are, and we're proud to be helping advance the healthy building movement."

New Fitwel Providers
Launched in 2022, Fitwel's Provider program is designed for industry-leading architecture, design, engineering, property management, and consulting firms committed to supporting their clients' implementation of Fitwel. Joining current Fitwel Providers Brightworks Sustainability, which consulted with Salesforce on its award-winning San Francisco headquarters, and real estate and investment management services firm JLL, among others, the following new Providers include:

• CD Sonter, Ltd.
• BranchPattern
• Sustainable Investment Group

Fitwel Partners
The Partner program recognizes companies that support the healthy building movement through Fitwel-aligned products. As a testament to the value of the program, also launched in 2022, the following Partners recently renewed their commitments:  

• Exubrancy
• HXE Partners, a Morrow Sodali Company
• Trane Technologies

"Exubrancy is thrilled to continue our partnership with Fitwel to help improve workplace wellbeing around the world. As a subsidiary of Tishman Speyer (a Fitwel Champion and founding member of Fitwel's Leadership Advisory Board), we proudly power wellness programming for Tishman Speyer's global portfolio and, most notably, its Fitwel-certified projects, including the newly certified Rockefeller Center," said Liz Wilkes, CEO and Founder of Exubrancy. "In an effort to improve the mental health and overall health and happiness of employee populations, we are seeing stakeholders across our hundreds of corporate clients moving to identify strategic health and wellness investments as business imperatives."

Fitwel's membership programs offer a range of mission-aligned companies opportunities for brand visibility and recognition, exclusive access to resources and discounts, and dedicated account support by the Fitwel team. The company's global community expansion follows the recent announcement of its new v3 Standard, Fitwel's latest version of evidence-based strategies that will launch in December, along with various technology, user experience, and data insights enhancements on the Fitwel Platform.

About Fitwel
Fitwel is the world's leading certification system committed to building health for all. Generated by expert analysis of 7,000+ academic research studies, Fitwel is implementing a vision for a healthier future where all buildings and communities are enhanced to strengthen health and well-being. Fitwel was originally created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and U.S. General Services Administration. The CDC remains the research and evaluation partner for Fitwel. The Center for Active Design (CfAD), a global not-for-profit organization, maintains the Fitwel standard and conducts objective third-party assessments that lead to certified projects. CfAD's new business unit, Adai (pronounced "a-DAY"), is charged with expanding Fitwel to the global market, administering the program while providing best-in-class customer service and technical support. To learn more about Fitwel, please visit: www.fitwel.org. 

SOURCE Fitwel