Fitwel Certification: A Guide to Boosting Workplace Wellness for a Healthier future

Healthy building certification fitwel accreditation

In the evolving landscape of modern workplaces, there is growing recognition of the role that building design plays in supporting the health and well-being of occupants.

Fitwel, a third-party building certification system, has emerged as a leading standard for assessing and improving health in the built environment.

At Biofilico, as Healthy Building Consultants certified in Fitwel, we aim to shed light on how this certification can make a transformative impact in workplaces.

We have used this tool with our FMCG client Bolton Group in Italy for example, as a way to structure their workplace wellness playbook.

What is Fitwel Certification and the healthy building movement?

Fitwel certification was developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with the General Services Administration (GSA) with the goal of improving the holistic health of building occupants.

It is a third-party verification system that rates spaces across 12 categories, including the indoor environment, physical activity promotion, emergency preparedness, social spaces, and more.

Promoting building health through design and operations

The main focus of Fitwel is to promote health and well-being through impactful design, operational policies, and workplace culture enhancements.

By improving the quality of the spaces in which people spend most of their time, Fitwel certification aims to create healthier, happier, and more productive environments for building users.

Benefits and Process of Fitwel accreditation for real estate assets

Achieving Fitwel offers numerous benefits to organizations and building owners, demonstrating a tangible commitment to occupant health and well-being.

It provides a clear, structured pathway to elevate building performance through straightforward and actionable design, policy, and operational strategies.

Here are some key advantages and how the process works:

1. Enhanced Occupant Well-being: By implementing strategies to improve air quality, increase access to natural light, promote physical activity, and more, organizations create an environment that supports the physical and mental well-being of their employees.

2. Straightforward Certification Process: it provides a flexible framework for improving buildings, making it easy for developers, facility managers, and architects to pursue certification. Fitwel’s flexible scorecards provide clear goals to improve health outcomes, empowering designers to creatively implement these strategies in ways that best suit a building’s unique needs.

3. Strategic Prioritization of Health: it places well-being as a key strategic priority for organizations. By focusing on areas such as workplace ergonomics, physical activity, community support, and emergency preparedness, companies can address the broad spectrum of factors that influence occupant health.

Fitwel Cert Levels

The system is structured into three levels, with scores assigned based on a building's incorporation of health-promoting strategies across various categories:

• 1 Star (90-104 points): This level verifies foundational policies, programs, and design considerations that are in place to encourage positive health behaviors and outcomes.

• 2 Stars (105-124 points): This level reflects an enhanced commitment to active design and workplace wellness, indicating moderate but impactful health strategies.

• 3 Stars (125-144 points): Achieving three stars denotes a sector leader in health, showcasing a comprehensive integration of physical, mental, and social well-being strategies throughout the building.

This tiered system allows organizations to achieve different levels of recognition, depending on their efforts to improve workplace wellness and the number of points accumulated.

Building Design and Fitwel for building health and wellbeing

The Fitwel system encourages a wide range of design interventions to foster health and wellness. A building’s design plays a critical role in enhancing the physical, mental, and social well-being of its occupants. Several key design considerations evaluated during Fitwel certification include:

• Stairwell Design and Accessibility: Promoting physical activity is a key component of Fitwel. Thoughtfully designed stairwells that are easily accessible and aesthetically pleasing can encourage employees to choose stairs over elevators, supporting daily exercise goals.

• Outdoor Spaces: Access to outdoor spaces or gardens can enhance employee well-being, provide a change of scenery, and foster a stronger connection to nature, reducing stress levels and improving mood.

• Indoor Environment: Air and water quality are evaluated as part of the certification. Ensuring clean air and providing access to filtered water are key aspects of supporting occupant health.

• Food and Amenities: The availability of healthy food options in prepared food areas, nutritious snacks in vending machines, contributes to a more holistic human health strategy and is one of many recognized healthy building practices.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Fitwel Certification

Fitwel certification is not only an effective means of improving the human health of occupants but also has substantial benefits for businesses in terms of employee performance and retention.

Studies have shown that work environments that support health and wellbeing help reduce absenteeism, boost productivity, and increase overall employee satisfaction.

Fitwel also guides organizations in identifying areas for improvement and assists in developing targeted strategies to address these challenges, fostering a more vibrant, engaged, and motivated workforce.

From a real estate perspective, this is a valuable asset that enhances building value, perhaps not on the same level as a LEED or BREEAM Green Building certification, or indeed WELL certification but valuable nonetheless.

Comparison to Other Certification Systems

Fitwel is one of several healthy building certification systems, but it has unique qualities that make it an attractive option.

Unlike systems like WELL or LEED, which can be complex and require substantial investment, Fitwel focuses on accessible, practical, and materials-based strategies that are often easier to implement and more affordable.

Its cost-effectiveness and practicality make it particularly appealing for projects that want to make impactful improvements without the resource intensity required by some other certifications.

While WELL has a detailed approach that covers aspects like nutrition, fitness, comfort, and mind, Fitwel takes a more straightforward approach, providing value through practical design and policies.

LEED, primarily focused on environmental sustainability, complements Fitwel’s health-oriented objectives by ensuring that the building’s overall environmental impact is also taken into account.

These certifications can sometimes be pursued in tandem to create a fully sustainable and health-supportive environment.

Implementation and Maintenance

Fitwel’s accreditation process is designed to be straightforward and achievable within 12 to 16 weeks. Certification remains valid for three years, and organizations must undergo recertification afterward to maintain their status.

The recertification process ensures that standards are being upheld and that the building continues to operate in alignment with the principles set forth during the initial certification.

Maintaining a Fitwel-certified status involves the ongoing evaluation of building policies, programs, and operations.

Regularly revisiting and updating strategies in areas like indoor air quality, social well-being, and physical activity promotion ensures the building remains aligned with the certification’s standards and keeps evolving to meet new health challenges.

Future of Fitwel Certification

As awareness of building health and wellness continues to grow, the demand for such certifications is expected to increase. The focus on employee health as a core part of corporate social responsibility and DEI has placed Fitwel in the spotlight as a key tool for the creation of healthier workplaces.

Conclusion

In an era where workplace wellness is of paramount importance, Fitwel certification is a worthy investment for organizations looking to prioritize health, enhance their brand, and create thriving, health-forward workspaces.

At Biofilico, we advocate for certifications like Fitwel, which align with our mission to design spaces that foster well-being and sustainability—making the world a healthier place, one building at a time.

Healthy Building Certification FITWEL

A Healthy building consultant guide to FITWEL certification

What is a healthy building or healthy community?

Primarily here we are dealing with factors such as indoor air quality (IAQ), visual comfort, light quality, acoustic performance, active design, thermal comfort and cleaning protocols but it can extend as far as mental wellbeing, biophilic design, physical activity opportunities and even an element of signage.

The ‘healthy building’ and ‘wellness real estate’ movement can be distinguished from its close cousin sustainable buildings and the green building movement that, as the name suggests, adopts more of a planet-oriented perspective.

Their ultimate aim is to create real estate and communities that promote mental and physical wellbeing for regular occupants. Concern for the environment is not their raison d’etre but should still be considered as in practice. many of the same concepts apply to healthy buildings and green buildings.

Why do we need healthy building certifications?

Healthy building certifications, like green building certifications, provide structure, rigour and accountability, as well as the opportunity to benchmark within the industry, measure progress and ultimately advance the cause not just through the award of certifications but also through the network of Accredited Professionals (APs) and Ambassadors and other consultants spreading the message within the industry.

We are great believers in the role healthy building certifications such as WELL and FITWEL have to play as neutral bodies promoting accountability, education and a sense of collective progress towards generally agreed healthy building goals.

What does a healthy building consultant for FITWEL do?

A FITWEL accredited professional is in fact known as a FITWEL Ambassador and can typically advise both on healthy building concepts in general as well as FITWEL certification specifically.

The key insight we wish to offer here, as healthy building consultants and a FITWEL Ambassador, is that there is a considerable amount of work to put in at the front end of any healthy building project to align the work of architects, interior designers, signage consultants, and even MEP consultants and especially Facilities Management with the requirements of the FITWEL standard.

That needs to happen first, with an eye to healthy building certification with FITWEL, only subsequently should the certification process be undertaken, as that is more about providing evidence, data and hard proof that certain decisions have already been taken and measures implemented in the building.

We recommend this way of working rather than attempting the two simultaneously, effectively a healthy building consultant role as well as a FITWEL Ambassador role managing the assessment application online. The timescales for the former are far large than for the latter.

For example, implementing active design strategies in office stairwells requires an understanding not just of the concept of active design but also a series of work phases, from budget allocation to creative concepts (possibly having undergone an RFP process with design agencies), detailed design, sign-off, implementation and snagging. This could realistically be three months from start to finish and it is just one small piece of a far wider project so plan ahead, get your consultants lined up early on and you will end up saving money in the long-run!

What does the FITWEL Standard cover?

The 55+ design and operations strategies in this particular healthy building standard are intended to improve occupant health and productivity.

Its scope is arguably more limited than the WELL standard that takes a far wider view of a similar brief but for this same reason FITWEL can be an easier pill to swallow, requiring less CAPEX. It is considerably less demanding than the WELL standard overall as it has a more limited scope, albeit with many of its components align with the WELL standard.

If we take a workplace as our example in this instance, include: Location, Building Access, Outdoor Spaces, Entrances & the Ground Floor experience, Stairwells, Indoor Environments, Workspaces, Shared Spaces, Water Supply, Food Services, Vending machines / snack bars, and Emergency Procedures.

What else do you need to know about FITWEL?

There are three scores on offer, 1-star, 2-stars and 3-stars with categories covering multi-family residential real estate, retail, commercial interior, single tenant building, multi-tenant base building, senior housing and community.

The seven FITWEL health impact categories are as follows:

• Impacts Surrounding Community Health

• Reduces Morbidity and Absenteeism

• Supports Social Equity for Vulnerable Populations

• Instills Feelings of Well-Being

• Enhances Access to Healthy Foods

• Promotes Occupant Safety

• Increases Physical Activity

Contact us to discuss your FITWEL Ambassador or healthy building consultant project requirements, we are here to help!