Recap of We Are WELL: Nourishment, Mind, and Fitness

Markon is a premier sponsor of the USGBC’s “We Are WELL” seminar series. The third session, held on 6 June, focused on how to increase employee productivity and overall health and satisfaction through building designs focused on WELL concepts.

The keynote speaker Bill Browing, Partner at Terrapin Bright Green, explained that the atmosphere in and around a building has been proven significantly impact the way employees feel and act as a result.

For example, in a visual response study, patients were shown either a gray curtain, the outside nature by a window, or a picture of outside nature on a screen before surgery. Patients who had seen the outside nature through a window recovered significantly faster than patients who had seen the grey curtain or nature mimicked on a screen.

In another study, Bill explained how more trees and natural scenery led to increased productivity in schoolchildren.

The other speakers shared their experiences with improvements in corporate spaces and how that has led to increased satisfaction and productivity. For example at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, VA, Kara Nickerson, Wellness Coach Manager, has helped the cafeteria to transform into a space that promotes healthy eating and education. Pilar Lorca, Owner, Fitness4Everybody explained how positioning and setting up a gym with natural light through windows, plants, and nature concepts will attract more employees to work out and in turn, reduce company insurance costs.  Nikial Boston, Regional Human Resources Director, Nixon Peabody LLP, and Whitney Austen Grey, Senior Vice President, Business Development, DELOS described how nature concepts (such as natural lights), healthy snack options, living plants and walls, fitness incentives (such as a bike sharing program and a meditation room), and lactation room, help employees to maintain physical and mental health. They have found significant increases in employee productivity as a result of these changes based on WELL concepts.

The session was attended by Anneli Lambeth, Ginny Dyson, and Ray Carney. Markon continues our documentation for WELL Certification in our Headquarters Expansion project at 400 S. Maple Ave.