Talking Stick - November/December 2018 - 30

FACILITIES

Nature Nurtures
In a 2016 National Geographic
article, author Florence
Williams takes a look at
how nature positively - and
dramatically - impacts human
well-being. A study conducted
by Dutch researchers showed
that those who lived within a
half mile of green space were
less likely to suffer from a
myriad of complications such
as heart disease, diabetes,
and even depression. A similar
study conducted in Toronto
concluded that residents
who lived on streets lined
with trees showed similar
positive health side-effects
equivalent to a $20,000
gain in income. With these
studies in mind, it behooves
designers to consider the
natural environment as much
as specifically programmed
wellness spaces.
For more information,
go to https://www.
nationalgeographic.com/.

materials such as glass for interior
walls can act as the first step. "Wellness is about finding, appreciating,
and celebrating the term happiness
in a variety of different dimensions of
well-being," says Andy Lemons, director of recreation and wellness at St.
Edward's University in Austin, Texas.
"We cannot isolate our traditional
physical experiences at the expense of
social, emotional, vocational, environmental, spiritual, financial, and intellectual wellness. In fact, we should be
the champions for wellness and wellbeing on our respective campuses,
as we are uniquely positioned in the

TALKING STICK

student experience to serve as leaders
in this effort."
For administrators and architects
alike, keeping up with wellness best
practices can sometimes feel more
like a best guess than an informed
choice. The WELL Building Standard,
which is steadily gaining traction,
hopes to establish a baseline that
gives decision-makers the confidence
they need to make the right call,
specifically in the design of physical surroundings. In the same vein
as LEED certifications, WELL is the
"leading tool for advancing health and
well-being in buildings," according to
its website. WELL measures several
aspects of buildings that can impact
human health: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and
mind. The Q2 2018 Standard - the
seventh iteration in three years - allows for flexibility in project type such
as new or existing buildings, new or
existing interiors, and core and shell.
Items on the certification checklist
include standard wellness practices,
such as smoking bans in buildings

and moisture management, but the
WELL Building initiative also considers less obvious ways to improve
wellness, such as capturing particles
from the shoes of people entering
the building and eliminating antimicrobial activity on surfaces. The
idea is that everything has an impact
on one's physical engagement with
their surroundings. As LEED did for
sustainability, the nascent WELL program is beginning to increase both its
visibility and the number of WELLcertified buildings. As a testament to
its value, 16 buildings in the state of
Massachusetts alone have achieved
WELL certification since the genesis
of the program in 2015; one part of
this achievement is that imbuing
a building with wellness attributes
removes the risk of self-selection and
provides these benefits to all users.
As institutions implement and
expand their wellness initiatives,
they would do well to think beyond
programming. Considering important
elements of the built environment
and assessing campus demographics

Rendering of the Penn State Altoona
new entrance

PHOTO COURTESY OF SASAKI

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Talking Stick - November/December 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - November/December 2018