Global Real Estate Leaders Prioritize Health to Drive Value, Improve ESG Performance, & Mitigate Risk from Climate Change

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Global Real Estate Leaders Prioritize Health to Drive Value, Improve ESG Performance, & Mitigate Risk from Climate Change

Fitwel Announces 2024 Best in Building Health Awards defining excellence in real estate operations and design proven to enhance quality of life and maximize value

PGIM Real Estate, Blackstone Real Estate’s ESG leadership, Green Matrix Consulting Company, Aldar, Harrison Street, Evolution Sustainability Group, and more are honored for their contributions  

NEW YORK, NY; March 21, 2024 — Fitwel, the world’s leading certification system committed to building health for all, proudly announced the winners of the 2024 Best in Building Health Awards today. This prestigious annual recognition honors the most innovative real estate companies and individuals setting the standard for health and wellbeing in the built environment across the globe, leveraging the trusted Fitwel Standard to enhance quality of life and drive value through design and operational excellence.

Marking the 6th annual celebration of the Best in Building Health Awards, Fitwel continues to recognize industry and individual leaders, as well as top-scoring projects across asset types and regions globally, highlighting their unique endeavors, motivations, and successes. This year’s winners, recognized for their achievements in 2023, span the globe from countries including Canada, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Thailand, and the United States, among others.

In the wake of one of the most rapid periods of Fitwel adoption, 2023 witnessed an impressive 78% increase in square footage of buildings on the platform, representing 2.5 billion sq. ft., underscoring the growing recognition of the value of health-optimized built environments. Top performing sectors including industrial, student housing, multifamily housing, life sciences, office, and retail, are all embracing Fitwel Certification, signaling a widespread paradigm shift towards prioritizing people-centric design. 

“This year’s winners are true champions exemplifying Fitwel’s global reach of bringing building health to all. Fitwel is empowering industry leaders to implement a framework that prioritizes stakeholder health and well-being, improves ESG performance, future-proofs asset value, and mitigates risk,” said Joanna Frank, President & CEO of Fitwel. “With the recent introduction of Fitwel v3 for asset certification and phase 2 of Social Performance as an entity-wide certification pathway, we anticipate a transformative year ahead. The Standard, now providing 100% portfolio coverage, reflects the latest research on health, climate change, and value, positioning Fitwel as a catalyst for industry-wide change.”

“Fitwel continues to expand globally, evidenced by the diversity of companies, countries, and assets in this year’s Best in Building Health Award winners,” said Zachary Flora, Executive Vice President of Growth at Fitwel. “As an organization committed to impacting health at scale and driving value by optimizing the built environment for people, it is incredible to see the adoption of Fitwel as an asset certification and also as a trusted source of social performance data used to strengthen ESG initiatives at scale. Through the new Fitwel v3 Standard and Social Performance metrics, we will continue to drive market transformation and set the bar for healthy buildings. Congratulations to our award winners who epitomize that transformation.”

“Fitwel continues to help companies understand and act on a wide range of practical, impactful measures that can be taken to promote safety, physical, social, and mental health, and more broadly, a culture of engagement among the workforce,” said Ari Frankel, a Principal at KKR Capstone, who is a member of the Center for Active Design's Board of Directors and who was also a founding member of the Fitwel Leadership Advisory Board while working with Alexandria Real Estate Equities. “This movement, which began to scale in commercial real estate, is poised for further adoption and growth across companies across a wide range of industries, sizes, and geographies.”

2024 Best in Building Health Special Recognition honorees underscore Fitwel’s significant growth and global impact, featuring those leading dominant market trends and driving transformation through social equity, health and well-being, and sustainability.

Best in Building Health® Leadership Awards | 2024
Special Recognition for Industry and Individual Leadership in 2023

  • Industry Leadership Award: Fitwel Champion Growth | PGIM Real Estate
    Recognized for outstanding progress in registering and certifying projects across their global portfolio as a Fitwel Champion

  • Industry Leadership Award: Regional Growth | Aldar
    Recognized for being a Fitwel trailblazer, developing and managing healthy buildings that prioritize the well-being of end users across the Middle East, one of Fitwel’s fastest-growing regions.

  • Individual Leadership Award: ESG Leadership | Eric Duchon, Global Head of ESG for Blackstone Real Estate, Dan Egan, Americas Head of ESG for Blackstone Real Estate
    Recognized for their commitment to building resilient environments by integrating healthy buildings and Fitwel across their portfolio companies, strengthening properties and delivering long-term value to their investors.

  • Industry Leadership Award: Sector Leadership - Student Housing | Evolution Sustainability Group
    Recognized for their commitment to expanding the healthy building movement through the Student Housing sector.

Special Recognition for All-Time Achievements

  • Fitwel Excellence Award: Most Certifications of All-Time
    Harrison Street

  • Fitwel Impact Award: Highest Scoring Project of All-Time (Design)
    Green Matrix Consulting Company, Five To The Tenth, Hung Kuo Group | Eco Utopia Community, Taiwan

  • Fitwel Impact Award: Highest Scoring Project of All-Time (Built)
    Vesta Consulting, UAB, Bei Capital, UAB | BLC, Lithuania

Fitwel also unveiled its second annual Top 20 Ambassadors List, an initiative launched in 2023 highlighting industry-leading professionals demonstrating exemplary engagement, leadership, and achievements as Fitwel Ambassadors. The honorees were selected out of over 4,500 professionals across 50+ countries for their success in project registrations and Fitwel certifications and the number of people impacted through those certifications. To see the full list of this year’s Top 20 Ambassadors, visit Fitwel’s website here.

Special Recognition Ambassador Awards

  • 2024 Ambassador of the Year
    Madison Dorman, Director of Certifications | Verdani Partners

  • Ambassador With the Highest Scoring Project
    Chia Ming Huang, Founder & Principal | Green Matrix Consulting Company

  • Company with the Most Ambassadors and Most New Ambassadors
    Gensler

Fitwel will also be continuing our successful publication series, Building Health, featuring the people and projects defining the very best in building health.

Below is the full list of 2024 Best in Building Health winners, which can also be found here.

Best in Building Health® Awards | 2024
Recognition Categories and Award Winners for Achievements in 2023

Distinctions | 2024

For Achievements in 2023

  • Highest-Scoring Project (Built)
    Certification Project Team: Frasers Property UK
    Project: Winnersh Triangle
    Location: Reading, England

  • Highest Scoring Project (Design)
    Certification Project Teams: Green Matrix Consulting Company, Five To The Tenth, Hung Kuo Group
    Project: Eco Utopia Community
    Location: Taiwan

  • Greatest Number of Certifications (Consultant)
    Company: UL Solutions

  • Greatest Number of Certifications (Owner)
    Company: Harrison Street

  • Greatest Number of Certifications (Tenant)
    Company: Amgen

  • Greatest Number of Registered Projects
    Company: BGIS  

  • Most People Impacted Across Building Scorecards 
    Company: RXR

  • Most People Impacted Across Site Scorecards
    Company: Oracle, Inc. 

  • Highest Square Footage
    Company: RXR

  • Highest Acreage
    Company: Aldar

Highest Scoring Projects | 2024

For Achievements in 2023

  • Commercial Interior Space v2.1 (Built)
    Certification Project Team: QuadReal Property Group
    Project: QuadReal Head Office at Park Place
    Location: Vancouver, Canada

  • Commercial Interior Space v2.1 (Design)
    Certification Project Team: PGIM Real Estate
    Project: NJ-Tower-14 PGIM Real Estate
    Location: Newark, NJ 

  • Single-Tenant Building v2.1 (Built) 
    Certification Project Teams: Africus Co., Ltd., ​​Thai Health Promotion Foundation
    Project: Thai Health Promotion Foundation
    Location: Bangkok, Thailand

  • Single-Tenant Building v2.1 (Design)
    Certification Project Teams: Samskara Studio, Lincoln Property Company, Arrowstreet, Studio ENEE, Soden Sustainability
    Project: Seaport Circle: Pavilion
    Location: Boston, MA

  • Multi-Tenant Base Building v2.1 (Built)
    Certification Project Teams: Paramount Group, Sustainable Investment Group
    Project: 111 Sutter Street
    Location: San Francisco, CA

  • Multi-Tenant Base Building v2.1 (Design)
    Certification Project Team: Credit Suisse Asset Management, CBRE Ltd.
    Project: 3 Rivergate
    Location: Bristol, United Kingdom

  • Multi-Tenant Whole Building v2.1 (Built)
    Certification Project Team: Beacon Capital Partners, Cushman & Wakefield, JLL 
    Project: AMA Plaza / 330 N. Wabash
    Location: Chicago, IL

  • Multi-Tenant Whole Building v2.1 (Design) 
    Certification Project Team: UBS Asset Management - Euroinvest, Cushman & Wakefield, EVORA Global
    Project: WTC Barcelona Almeda Park Phase 1 Building #3
    Location: Barcelona, Spain

  • Multifamily Residential v2.1 (Built)
    Certification Project Teams: ESG Europe, Elkstone Partners, Hatch Student Living 
    Project: Copley Court
    Location: Cork, Ireland

  • Multifamily Residential v2.1 (Design)
    Certification Project Teams: Harrison Street, DLC Europe
    Project: Compass, UK
    Location: Birmingham, UK

  • Retail v2.1 (Built) 
    Certification Project Teams: Brightworks Sustainability, Halekulani Corporation
    Project: Halepuna Waikiki
    Location: Honolulu, HI

  • Retail v2.1 (Design)
    Certification Project Teams: Tishman Speyer, Arup
    Project: Enterprise Research Campus – Hotel Component  
    Location: Boston, MA

  • Community v2.1 (Built)
    Certification Project Teams: UL Solutions, Savills Property Service (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
    Project: Central Park
    Location: Beijing, China

  • Community v2.1 (Design) 
    Certification Project Teams: Green Matrix Consulting Company, Five To The Tenth, Hung Kuo Group
    Project: Eco Utopia Community
    Location: Taiwan

  • Commercial Industrial Site v2.1 (Built)
    Certification Project Team: Frasers Property UK
    Project: Winnersh Triangle
    Location: Reading, England

  • Commercial Industrial Site v2.1 (Design)
    Certification Project Teams: Beijing Central Business District Administration Committee, Beijing Yintai Business Management Group Co., Ltd., China Academy of Building Research
    Project: Public Green Plaza in Beijing CBD Core Area
    Location: Beijing, China

  • Senior Housing vbeta (Built)
    Certification Project Teams: Green Courte Partners, MA Design 
    Project: Verena at Hilliard
    Location: Hilliard, OH

  • Senior Housing vbeta (Design) 
    Certification Project Teams: Pennrose, LGBTQ Senior Housing, Inc., DiMella Shaffer, Thornton Tomasetti, NEI
    Project: The Pryde
    Location: Hyde Park, MA

About Fitwel
Fitwel is the world's leading certification system committed to building health for all. Generated by expert analysis of 7,000+ academic research studies, Fitwel is implementing a vision for a healthier future where all buildings and communities are enhanced to strengthen health and well-being. Fitwel was originally created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and U.S. General Services Administration. The CDC remains the research and evaluation partner for Fitwel. The Center for Active Design (CfAD), a global not-for-profit organization, maintains the Fitwel standard and conducts objective third-party assessments that lead to certified projects. CfAD's new business unit, Adai (pronounced "a-DAY"), is charged with expanding Fitwel to the global market, administering the program while providing best-in-class customer service and technical support. To learn more about Fitwel, please visit: fitwel.org.

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