The World Green Building Council has today announced a new campaign, Better Places for People. This global campaign aims to create a world in which buildings support healthier and happier lives for those who occupy them.
There is a comprehensive body of research showing that the design of a building impacts on the health, wellbeing and productivity of its occupants. The World Green Building Council’s 2014 global report Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices raised awareness of this issue by outlining the overwhelming evidence linking office design with occupants’ health and productivity. It also set out a framework for organisations to measure how their buildings impact on their most valuable asset, their employees. By illustrating how the same features commonly associated with green buildings can also have a measurable impact on human wellbeing, the report strengthened the ongoing business case for energy-efficient, resource-efficient, healthier buildings.
Better Places for People builds upon the foundation provided by the report and ensures that the principles presented can be taken forward beyond the office sector, to all building types.
The goal of the campaign is to accelerate the demand and the supply of buildings that support people in living healthier, happier lives by raising awareness of how buildings impact people, and by presenting the business case for action. WorldGBC and its partner organisations will engage and collaborate with building occupants, developers and landlords, investors, and real estate agents and advisors through a wide range of activities to help drive action on the ground. A range of resources, including reports, toolkits and case studies, are available.
With the support of 16 green building councils from around the world and a Steering Committee of leaders and experts in the field, this campaign is supported by global partners Arup, B+H Architects, International Well Building Institute, Land Securities, Lendlease, Marks and Spencer, Saint-Gobain, Skanska and Uponor.
