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- Workshop organised in partnership with the International WELL Building Institute, which is leading the global movement to transform buildings and communities to help people thrive
- Event underlines commitment of EmiratesGBC to advance best practices in driving sustainable built environments
Dubai, UAE: Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC), the independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices, organised a WELL Building Standard workshop in Dubai’s Time Oak Hotel & Suites under the theme, ‘WELL Today and Tomorrow: Scaling Health Happiness + Well-being for Strategic Impact across Organisations.’
The workshop was organised with the International WELL Building InstituteTM (IWBITM) to shed more light on how design, operations and behaviours within the building space can be optimised to improve the health and well-being of the people inside buildings. IWBI delivers the WELL Building Standard, a leading global rating system and the first to be focused exclusively on the ways that buildings, and everything in them, can improve comfort, drive better choices, and generally enhance, not compromise, health and wellness.
At the workshop, experts from IWBITM and EmiratesGBC, as well as subject-matter experts, offered insights on the WELL Building Standard through a series of new case studies demonstrating the impact of WELL.
The WELL Portfolio programme, which enables organisations to scale their efforts related to health and well-being across multiple buildings or spaces within them, was introduced at the event. Launched in July and rooted in the impactful strategies contained within WELL v2, WELL Portfolio is designed to maximise the positive outcomes related to human health and well-being along with the value of buildings. Experiences of UAE organisations and properties that focus on health and wellness were also presented at the workshop followed by Q&A from the audience. Speakers from IWBI included Kate Rube, WELL Faculty and Vice President of IWBI, and Ann Marie Aguilar, WELL Faculty and Director of Operations – EMEA, IWBI. Kate drew on her expertise in active design, urban planning, and policymaking at the discussion, while Ann-Marie highlighted the practical aspects of how business development and technical teams can work towards WELL Certification. Subject matter experts who contributed to the panel discussion included: Farah Yassine, Principal Consultant - Sustainable Resource Management, WSP; Katherine Bruce, Sustainability Consultant, AESG; and Mahesh Kamath, Projects Manager at Works Interiors LLC.
Saeed Al Abbar, Chairman of EmiratesGBC, said: “The value of buildings where people thrive and prosper is integrally linked to the wellness of its residents. Sustainable living also incorporates this important aspect – where buildings and spaces are designed and maintained to promote the welfare of the people. As the UAE focuses on driving green built environments to achieve its vision for sustainable development, incorporating standards for well-being adds further value for the building and its occupants. Our workshop on WELL was specifically designed to highlight the importance of how we can all work together to improve global health through the design of the places where people live and work.”
Ann Marie Aguilar of IWBITM added: “As one of the first WELL workshops in the Middle East, we are extremely pleased to collaborate with EmiratesGBC to communicate the importance of advancing health and well-being in buildings across the region. Our goal, especially through WELL Portfolio, is to encourage organisations to prioritise people’s well-being, as well as to achieve higher efficiencies by applying proven wellness strategies at scale. Through this workshop, we have underlined the long-term value that the WELL Building Standard brings to urban projects and to the community.”
The workshop was supported by WSP and was attended by EmiratesGBC members and government partners as well as other industry professionals. Farah Yassine of WSP in the Middle East, who also represents EmiratesGBC on the organisation’s Board of Directors, was a panellist at the event. Drawing on her experience and knowledge of social sustainability, Farah shared insights on how organisations in the region can benefit from integrating health and wellbeing in the built environment and solutions for achieving positive change.
EmiratesGBC regularly hosts and participates in multinational events, conferences and forums. It has also developed a suite of activities, inclusive of networking events, technical workshops, focus days and facilitated training based around specific issues related to the built-environment that meet the needs of its members, of the UAE community and the wider Middle East.
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About Emirates Green Building Council:
The Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC) was founded in June 2006, and became the 8th full member of the World Green Building Council in September 2006. EmiratesGBC is an organisation that promotes and educates on green issues in the built environment and is the official body for the UAE endorsed by the World Green Building Council. EmiratesGBC currently has around 150 members in the UAE which represents 1000s of individuals interested and involved in Green Building in the UAE and the region. In addition, EmiratesGBC members receive discounts on a number of programmes such as those related to conferences, seminars, training and green building events. www.emiratesgbc.org
About the International WELL Building Institute:
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is leading the global movement to transform our buildings and communities in ways that help people thrive. The WELL v2 pilot is a recently launched version of its popular WELL Building Standard, and the WELL Community Standard pilot is a district scale rating system that sets a new global benchmark for healthy communities. WELL is focused exclusively on the ways that buildings and communities, and everything in them, can improve our comfort, drive better choices, and generally enhance, not compromise, our health and wellness. IWBI convenes and mobilizes the wellness community through management of the WELL AP credential, the pursuit of applicable research, the development of educational resources, and advocacy for policies that promote health and wellness everywhere. IWBI is a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate citizenship initiative, and helps companies advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the use of WELL. www.wellcertified.com
INTERNATIONAL WELL BUILDING INSTITUTE, IWBI, the WELL BUILDING STANDARD, WELL v2, WELL CERTIFIED, WELL AP, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.
For further information:
Navin Rochiramani
ASDA’A BCW | +9714 4507600
navin.rochiramani@bcw-global.com
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