World-Renowned Canadian Company BOMA BEST Joins Forces With Fitwel to Bring About Market Transformation by Promoting Health in Existing Buildings

NEW YORK, June 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Center for Active Design announces a groundbreaking strategic partnership with BOMA Canada and Fitwel. This partnership aligns the strengths of BOMA BEST, the leading Canadian sustainable building certification with Fitwel, the premier health-promoting building certification. Both certification programs represent a cost-effective, high-impact approach to transforming existing buildings. 

"BOMA Canada couldn't be prouder to partner with Fitwel," said Benjamin Shinewald, President and CEO of BOMA Canada. "Our BOMA BEST program is already the world leader in improving the sustainability of existing buildings, so it is a natural fit to partner with Fitwel, given its focus on health promotion in buildings. The fact that both our programs are low-cost, high-impact and high-volume makes this partnership even more promising." 

In only 14 weeks, Fitwel has established itself as the healthy workplace market leader, impacting over 165,000 employees. Fitwel is advancing chronic disease prevention and strengthening health promotion worldwide.

"Fitwel is the world's leading health-promoting certification system, with over 90 projects submitted for certification and over 600 currently planned projects through 2018 after just four months in the public market," said Joanna Frank, President & CEO at the Center for Active Design. "We have seen remarkable demand for Fitwel since its public launch in February of this year. We are committed to leveraging the demand for health-promoting environments into a holistic approach that furthers market transformation that was activated by sustainability."

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, "approximately four out of five Canadian adults have at least one modifiable risk factor for chronic disease (tobacco smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating and harmful use of alcohol)." By utilizing Fitwel, BOMA Canada is strengthening their healthy workplaces efforts, by contributing to chronic disease prevention in categories such as increasing physical activity, providing healthy food options, reducing morbidity and absenteeism, impacting community health, and supporting social equality for vulnerable populations, among others.

BOMA's Strategic Partnership with the Center for Active Design began with the development of a crosswalk between Fitwel and BOMA BEST to identify overlapping strategies between the two systems, with expected publication in Fall 2017. Fitwel and BOMA BEST will provide input at the strategic level to align both systems. The BOMA BEST program is Canada's largest environmental assessment and certification program for existing buildings in Canada, with more than 2,500 buildings certified in Canada today, and a growing presence in the U.S. It is a unique program that provides owners and managers with a consistent framework for assessing the environmental performance and management of existing buildings of all types and sizes. 

Media Contact:
Symphony Chau
[email protected]

Related Links

BOMA Canada

Center for Active Design

SOURCE Center for Active Design