Why Smart-Building Wellness Programs Are Smart

Walraven says we’re only at the beginning of a massive technological shift in the CRE history, and smart buildings and wellness are just beginning to catch on.

SAN DIEGO—Smart-building wellness programs are about employee and tenant comfort, which leads to increased productivity and more profitability for everyone, panelists on Realcomm’s Smart Building Wellness webinar told attendees Tuesday. The webinar demonstrated how technology plays a major role in healthy intelligent buildings and best practices for a wellness program.

Moderator Brenna Walraven, president & CEO of Corporate Sustainability Strategies, said we’re really only at the beginning of a massive shift in the CRE industry, and we’re one of the last industries to be fully disrupted by technology. She explained that the evolution of smart buildings and wellness began with the 1976 outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease at Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, which led to I-BEAM—a guidance tool for indoor air-quality issues. This evolved into the development of USGBC and LEED certification. She pointed out that we could use smart building solutions to avoid Legionnaire’s disease outbreaks like the one in November at Disneyland, which created the need for two coolers to be shut down at the park.