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Want to Get Healthy in 2017? Try Living in One of These Homes

It’s no secret that your home can make you sick. Really sick. Horror stories abound of families suffering from lung disease after decades of unknowingly breathing in the asbestos in their residences, or falling prey to a multitude of illnesses brought on by creeping, insidious mold.

And then there are the heartbreaking cases of the people of Flint, MI, who were falling seriously ill from the lead-contaminated water flowing through the pipes in their homes.

So, the reasoning goes, why not go in the opposite direction: Design homes that can actually make their inhabitants healthier?

That quest has led to the introduction of two separate health and wellness certifications for condo and apartment buildings, each developed by different groups.

To score the WELL Certification or Active Design Verified status, builders must focus on an array of “healthier” design elements, materials, and amenities. That often includes top-notch water quality, high-end air circulation and filtration systems, and plenty of natural light (to deliver that much-needed Vitamin D). Indoor paint, finishes, and cleaning supplies shouldn’t contain harmful chemicals.

In addition, the very design of the building encourages residents to be active, with inviting, well-lit stairwells front and center, fitness facilities on site, and prominent and plentiful bike storage.

To obtain a silver, gold, or platinum WELL Certification, developers even need to go to great lengths to keep loud noise from invading individual units—through the strategic use of noise-muting materials (e.g., double-pane windows) that filter out much of the car honking and partying noise from outside—so residents can get a full night’s sleep. Ahhhh.

The new designations are hitting the real estate landscape at a time when folks are more health-conscious than ever, and some builders are betting that these residences will soon become the norm.

Wellness buildings are “the next evolution of bringing the medical community together with architects to really meld these ideas,” says Theresa Islo, an administrator in the University of Wisconsin Health and Wellness Management program. “It’s the next step of what we can do to control our health.”

The WELL Certification is administered by the aptly named International WELL Building Institute, a New York–based public benefit corporation which was created to oversee the program. (It’s similar to those LEED designations for environmentally friendly buildings.)

More than 50 residential buildings across the globe are currently seeking the certification. It was introduced in mid-2015, growing out of a similar program for workplaces. None of the projects has been certified just yet, but several are very close.

“We hope it will draw a lot of attention to how any indoor environment is impacting a person’s cardiovascular health, respiratory health, cognitive health, immune health, [and] sleep health,” says Paul Scialla, founder of the institute.

The Active Design Verified program is similar, but it is intended only for affordable housing developments, primarily for low- to middle-income residents who pay below-market-rate rents. So far, about 4,250 units in 25 housing developments across the country have been verified.

Could the right building really make you healthier?

Meeting the WELL Building Standard is about more than just fancy air filtration systems and well-lit stairwells. (To obtain WELL Certification, buildings must have a passing score in all seven categories of the WELL Building Standard.)

Future residents of the Lakehouse on 17th, in Denver, for example, will be able to pick fruits and vegetables from their rooftop organic farm, swim laps in the dechlorinated pool, and chill out in the meditation center or sauna when it opens in early 2019. There’s even a juicing station. And did we mention the fitness center with personal trainers, nutritionists, and yoga instructors that’s open only to residents?

The more than 200 one- and two-bedroom condos in the 12-story building will sell for $455,000 to $1,800,000.

“We have a chance to make real estate healthier,” says Brian Levitt, president of Nava Real Estate, which is developing the building. “We have an opportunity to help [residents] to make better choices and live better.”

Fellow builder Joseph Forgione, founder of New Jersey–based JMF Properties, plans to open The Clarus, a 20-unit rental building with retail space on the ground floor, in the New York City suburb of Maplewood, NJ, next year. The coolest feature? The Clarus will have a fitness center with virtual instructors.

“There’s a tremendous unmet need” for healthier buildings, Forgione says.

You don’t have to be a millionaire to live in a healthy building

Here’s the thing: Wellness buildings aren’t just for the wealthy. One building listed on the website of the International WELL Building Institute is an affordable housing project in the Bronx. Of course, designing truly healthy buildings on a budget will be more of a challenge.

That’s why in addition to the WELL Certification, affordable housing developers can apply to have their buildings Active Design Verified. The Active Design Verified program, a joint initiative of first lady Michelle Obama‘s Partnership for a Healthier America and the Center for Active Design, looks at ways to make buildings and cities healthier by working with developments putting up below-market-price homes. The center is a nonprofit group that tries to find ways that architecture and urban planning can be used to improve public health.

Similar to the WELL Certification criteria, these structures often have optimally placed stairwells as well as rooftop or backyard gardens, fitness centers, and bicycle storage areas. In larger developments, there are often bike paths and footpaths between residences.

“There’s a great deal of evidence that the design of a building changes behavior,” says Joanna Frank, executive director of the Center for Active Design.

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