The award celebrates projects that focus on health through all phases of development and operation

The Green Health Partnership, a research and development initiative between USGBC and the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and the International WELL Building Institute are excited to announce the projects that have received the Building Health Leadership Award at Greenbuild in Atlanta.

The Building Health Leadership Award celebrates green building projects that focus on promoting health and well-being throughout all phases of building development and operation. Award recipients go above and beyond standard practice by rigorously considering occupant health during project planning, taking strategic action to promote health and well-being through building certifications, and committing to measuring impact.

Recipients of the Building Health Leadership Award at Greenbuild include projects in the U.S., Canada and Hong Kong. These projects join a cohort of outstanding projects that received the award at IMPACT in St. Paul and GreenerBuilder in San Francisco earlier this year.

Genentech Employee Center
New Construction, Health and Fitness Center
South San Francisco, CA, USA
LEED V4 BD+C Gold, WELL v1 Gold

The Genentech Employee Center is a physical embodiment of Genentech’s focus on creating a great workplace environment. They began their health promotion process by setting goals to directly impact the health and well-being of their employees. Genentech aimed to:

• Foster a positive sense of community,
• Reinforce their focus on wellness,
• Create meaningful change through innovative designs, and,
• Provide positive impacts on the environment.

The Employee Center’s design features target physical activity and mental health, and include a fitness and health center, gymnasium, ergonomics showroom, as well as career and financial coaching. Genentech partnered with designers at Perkins & Will to develop a comprehensive screening process for sustainable material selection that prioritizes human health and promotes supply chain transparency. Universal design, biophilia, and aesthetics were integral to the Employee Center’s design, resulting in an abundance of natural daylight and views, an interior courtyard and lush green spaces, and a comprehensive art and sculpture program. Monthly building tours introduce the wellness design features to occupants and a comprehensive building signage program educates occupants on design concepts like healthy materials and natural ventilation.

The Hub Council and WELL Workplace Steering Committee have also developed a framework to measure the impact of wellness initiatives at Genentech’s Employee Center. Information on their utilization strategies, annual occupant user surveys, and measuring indoor and outdoor environmental quality provide health performance indicators for the building and help fuel decisions for future wellness strategies.

See related article: Goldman Sachs Green Buildings and WELL-Certified Management

“We’re honored to receive the Building Health Leadership Award for our Employee Center in South San Francisco. At Genentech, we’re dedicated to maintaining a sustainable campus environment that minimizes resource consumption while enhancing worker health, comfort and wellbeing, which is why we chose design and construction partners who value the same goals in bringing this vision to life,” said Veronica McCright, VP of Site Services at Genentech.

Source: International WELL Building Institute