The WELL Healthy-Safety seal represents an important breakthrough in our mission to build people first places. We’ve always said that we’re not in the business of handing out plaques; rather, that we’re committed to a more radical and far-reaching vision of market transformation.

We believe that the WELL Health-Safety Rating has the potential to accelerate this change because it prescribes a range of protocols and practices that can be implemented in buildings everywhere, old or new, with the ability to scale and serve the largest and most complex organizations in the world.

Another critical component of market transformation is gaining public awareness and driving consumer demand. That trickle-up effect is key to transforming our spaces for good.

We won’t see the change in offices until tenants – and the prospective employees of tenants – demand to spend their working hours in buildings with excellent air quality, acoustics and thermal comfort. We can’t expect to transform homes until buyers are quizzing their realtors about ventilation and heating systems with the same rigor as when they enquire into the reputation of local schools.

At IWBI we’ve been good at expanding our community and reaching our customers with the products they need. But engagement at the consumer level is essential to steepening the curve of adoption.

That’s why I’m so excited to be launching our WELL Health-Safety Rating campaign alongside some big-name brand ambassadors. By linking IWBI with public health experts, world-class athletes and respected celebrities who have reach and influence far beyond our own, we believe we can leverage an incredible opportunity to convert hearts and minds to our movement.

It’s unusual for a business-to-business company to launch a consumer facing campaign but we know that engaging the mainstream is fundamental to our mission. We can’t accurately predict what will happen but we’re nothing if not bold, brave and curious about how these diverse spokespeople will reach people all over the world.

Years ago, when Rick Fedrizzi, our Executive Chairman, and I went to the White House to accept a design award, we had the opportunity to meet Michelle Obama. When we mentioned that the school her daughters attended was the first LEED Platinum school in the United States, her response was that it was precisely the reason that her daughter Sasha decided to enroll.

This is a great example of consumers acting as the ultimate influencers, and it’s why using celebrities to help tell our story can be a powerful strategy.
When people first places become what we need and expect, when prospective students demand greener schools, when travelers demand WELL-certified hotels, and when we demand healthier homes for all, we’ll know that the transformation that we seek has truly arrived.

We think it’s about time.

Learn more about WELL Health-Safety Rating here and look for the seal!