The Complete Guide to Fitwel Building Standard Certification

Fitwel building standard certification lets the community know that you prioritize health and wellness as a building owner, operator, or investor. 

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), 44% of employers added or increased a wellness program in their benefits package because there is a growing trend in prioritizing health and wellness. Buildings must also meet these standards to show communities the owners prioritize this as well. 

If you're considering becoming Fitwel certified, check out this complete certification guide. 

Key Takeaways:

• Fitwel certification is a straightforward and well-tested approach to creating healthier workspaces and residential dwellings. Fitwel centers these approaches around the entire community.

• The Fitwel building standards focus on location, access, outdoor spaces, stairwell, and shared spaces, to name a few. These standards also concentrate on the water supply and food services within a building.

• Certification matters to owners, investors, and visitors of buildings because it increases the value of the building.

• The benefits of a Fitwell certification show community members that you prioritize wellness, optimize health through design, and concern yourself with sustainability and the community at large.

• There are five steps to becoming Fitwel certified. They include registering, assessment, submission, verification, and certification. There is also a need to recertify regularly.

What is Fitwel Building Standard Certification?

Fitwel is a new, high-impact building certification introduced in 2017. It focuses on healthier workplaces, environments, productivity. 

Having a healthy workplace environment is becoming increasingly essential to those who occupy time and space in these dwellings. Fitwel has a straightforward and well-tested approach for creating these healthier buildings. 

There are several categories of becoming a Fitwel building, including: 

• Community Health 
• Reduction of Absenteeism 
• Social Equity 
• Well Being 
• Increased Fitness
• Safety 
• Healthy Food Options

The best part about becoming a Fitwel building is that there are no prerequisites. Credits are voluntary based on the level of credits you wish to obtain. You can earn this certification for an entire building or even a section within a commercial building. 

To become a Fitwel certified building you must adhere to specific strategies put in place by Fitwel. There are two types of buildings they focus on, workplace buildings and residential buildings. Let’s look at the Fitwel standards for commercial buildings. 

The Fitwel Building Standards for Commercial Buildings

They base the grading scale for becoming Fitwel certified on a score of 144 points that they give according to these strategies:

Location

The first strategy is to optimize access to nearby amenities, such as transit and grocery stores. They must be within a quarter mile. It measures the address's "walkability" using the Walk Score®. 

Building Access

Next, the standards emphasize direct pedestrian routes through the building entrance. It also focuses on the availability of secure, covered bicycle parking and the priority of carpool vehicle parking.

Outdoors Spaces

The priority here is to provide permanent fitness equipment and walking trails adjacent to the property. It also integrates a pest management plan.

Ground Floor and Entrance

This strategy addresses tobacco-free spaces near entrances. It also promotes that you dedicate at least one entrance to the outdoor pedestrian routes.

Stairwells

The stairwell strategy prioritizes the use of stairwells over elevators and escalators in multi-level buildings. You should make this area more visible and easier to use.

Indoor Spaces

A Fitwel certified building must implement a smoke-free policy and manage the air quality throughout the building. There should also be a focus on providing a healthy water supply and food services that offer healthy food and wholesome snacks.

Why Fitwel Certification Matters 

There are three significant reasons building owners and investors consider Fitwell certification, according to Fitwel. They are:

• Roughly 49% of building owners will pay more for structures that demonstrate having a positive influence on health.
• Nearly 45% of investors own— or are interested in owning—impact investments. There are investment buildings focused on social, environmental, and governance implementations.
• Almost 97% of visitors report the ease of use of these developments, and 84% understand the importance of buildings that support health and wellness according to access to the data necessary to certify a project.

Benefits of Fitwel Certification

There are four significant benefits of becoming Fitwel certified. They include:

• Prioritizes wellness: Becoming Fitwel certified lets employees, investors, and everyone else knows that you prioritize wellness to all who enter the building. You do this with the design, development, and operations of the buildings you own or manage. 
• Optimizes Health: It signals to all that you have integrated the best strategies science has to offer to optimize the health of spaces throughout the building.
• Sustainability: Fitwel building standards ensure that your organization is focusing on sustainability practices. For example, purchasing products from companies you know focus on sustainable manufacturing processes.
• Community: Not only are you improving the health of your employees (or residents) when you become Fitwel certified but you also prove that you care about the surrounding community.

How to Get Fitwel Certified 

To become Fitwel certified, you can begin the process by clicking here. They charge a $500 annual fee to use the Fitwel portal. You will then pay around $6,000 for every project you want certified.

• Register: To register a project you must create an account for the company through the Fitwel Portal. You then enter the basic information about that project.

• Assess: You will then determine which Scorecard standards fit with the project and assess how to measure those standards according to the Fitwel strategies (listed above). You monitor these benchmarks over time.

• Submission: You then submit all documentation regarding the project to show compliance with all the Fitwel strategies. 

• Review and Verification: The Fitwel certification team with then review and verify your submitted documents and return any comments to the project team. 

• Certification: There are three levels of certification. Scores of 125 or more receive three stars. Scores of 91 to 105 receive two stars. Scores of 1 to 90 receive one star. 

• Recertification: Fitwel build standard certification requires annual submissions for recertification.

Optimizing Your Building for Fitwel Building Standards with Chicago Faucets

If you're ready to improve your commercial building designs to incorporate health and wellness, consider a Fitwel certification. Several resources can help you meet these standards. 

At Chicago Faucets, sustainability has been our corporate policy since the beginning. We have been designing and manufacturing commercial fixtures for more than 120 years. 

Not only do our products help conserve natural resources like water and energy. Our manufacturing process is environmentally responsible. 

For more information about ways Chicago Faucets can help with your Green Building initiative, contact us here today!