In less than half a decade, the wellness movement has taken hold in the global real estate market. As of mid-April, nearly 2,600 building projects across the globe were either certified or registered through the International WELL Building Institute’s WELL Standard or the Center for Active Design’s Fitwel rating system.
Even more impressive, 4,360 design, construction, and real estate professionals have earned their WELL Accredited Professional status, and another 3,485 WELL APs are in the making. Tack on Fitwel’s cadre of 1,900+ “Ambassadors” and active users, and we’re looking at an army 9,400 strong pushing the merits of these programs.
Corporate America also has jumped on the wellness train. In 2017, nearly half of all worksites in the U.S. offered some type of health promotion or wellness program, including an astounding 92% of worksites with 500+ employees, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Clearly, wellness in the workplace has become big business, especially for large employers that hope their investment in healthier, lower-stress work environments will lead to improved employee health and, ultimately, lower healthcare costs.
ALSO SEE: Half of corporate and government offices offer wellness programs (CDC study)
But getting wellness to pay off may not be that simple, or even a wise investment to begin with, as evidenced by a peer-reviewed study published last month in The Journal of the American Medical Association (BDCnetwork.com/WellnessStudy19). The study involved a randomized trial of 32,974 employees across 160 worksites (20 sites with wellness plans, 140 control sites) at a large U.S. warehouse retail company.
First the good news: After 18 months, the worksites with the standardized wellness program had an 8.3-percentage point higher rate of employees who reported engaging in regular exercise (69.8% vs. 61.9%, with an adjusted difference of 0.03) and a 13.6-percentage point higher rate of employees who reported actively managing their weight (69.2% vs. 54.7%).
Now the not-so-positive news: When looking at the traditional measures of health, particularly as they pertain to health insurance premiums—namely cholesterol, blood pressure, and body mass index—there were no significant differences between the treatment group and the control group after 18 months. The same for healthcare spending and utilization, absenteeism, tenure, job performance, sleep quality, and even food choices.
It seems, according to this study at least, that workplace wellness programs can create environments that promote improved health behaviors among employees, but achieving lower healthcare spending and utilization are a stretch.
On another note, the BD+C editorial team needs your input for a first-of-its-kind AEC industry research project. For more than 40 years, BD+C editors have ranked the nation’s largest AEC firms as part of our annual Giants 300 Report. This year, we’re launching a companion research survey focused on tech and innovation trends at AEC Giant firms. If your firm is an AEC Giant and is adopting and vetting advanced tech tools, we invite you to participate in our 10-minute, 11-question Giants Tech and Innovation Survey. The results will be published this fall in BD+C. Take the survey at: BDCnetwork.com/TechSurvey19.
Related Stories
Modular Building | Mar 31, 2022
Rick Murdock’s dream multifamily housing factory
Modular housing leader Rick Murdock had a vision: Why not use robotic systems to automate the production of affordable modular housing? Now that vision is a reality.
Legislation | Mar 28, 2022
LEED Platinum office tower faces millions in fines due to New York’s Local Law 97
One Bryant Park, also known as the Bank of America Tower, in Manhattan faces an estimated $2.4 million in annual fines when New York City’s York’s Local Law 97 goes into effect.
Energy-Efficient Design | Mar 25, 2022
University of Pittsburgh Releases ‘Pitt Climate Action Plan’
The University of Pittsburgh has released the Pitt Climate Action Plan, detailing how the University will achieve its goal to go carbon neutral by 2037 through investments in clean energy, transportation, efficiency and other areas.
AEC Tech Innovation | Mar 9, 2022
Meet Emerge: WSP USA's new AEC tech incubator
Pooja Jain, WSP’s VP-Strategic Innovation, discusses the pilot programs her firm’s new incubator, Emerge, has initiated with four tech startup companies. Jain speaks with BD+C's John Caulfield about the four AEC tech firms to join Cohort 1 of the firm’s incubator.
Codes and Standards | Feb 18, 2022
Proposal would make all new buildings in Los Angeles carbon-neutral
Los Angeles may become the next large city to ban fossil fuels from new construction if legislation recently introduced in the city council becomes law.
Green | Jan 10, 2022
The future of regenerative building is performance-based
Why measuring performance results is so critical, but also easier said than done.
Sustainability | Oct 28, 2021
Reducing embodied carbon in construction, with sustainability leader Sarah King
Sustainability leader Sarah King explains how developers and contractors can use the new EC3 software tool to reduce embodied carbon in their buildings.
Green | Oct 6, 2021
My reaction to the UN IPCC Climate Change 2021 report: Ugh!
The recent report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is not a happy read.
Sponsored | Glass and Glazing | Oct 1, 2021
Seizing the Daylight with BIPV Glass
Glass has always been an idea generator. Now, it’s also a clean energy generator.
Wood | Jul 16, 2021
The future of mass timber construction, with Swinerton's Timberlab
In this exclusive for HorizonTV, BD+C's John Caulfield sat down with three Timberlab leaders to discuss the launch of the firm and what factors will lead to greater mass timber demand.