Nine Skanska buildings in the CEE region are applying for the new WELL Health-Safety Rating. The newest International WELL Building Institute rating is awarded to high-quality office spaces with top safety standards that reduce the risk of disease transmission and facilitate creating healthy and safe workplaces in the post-COVID reality.
To deal with the challenges caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, Skanska has established new rules and adapted workplaces in Central and Eastern Europe to support its tenants returning to the offices, to ensure a healthy work environment, and to provide the investors with safe assets. The developer has launched the “Care for Life Office Concept” that has been designed to meet the current needs of workplaces and its users.
“Care for Life Office Concept” takes into account not only comfort but also the microbiological safety of users. It includes professional consulting for tenants and establishing various safety protocols and solutions to reduce the spread of coronavirus or other future viral outbreaks. It consists of measures and adjustments with regards to physical distancing – space planning consultations and requirements to ensure proper physical distancing, touch-free solutions, facility management sanitizing and disinfection plans, as well as office air quality management.
The next step and proof of creating safe workplaces are Skanska’s nine office buildings in the CEE region applying for the WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management, granted by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). The following Skanska projects have applied:
- Equilibrium, Campus 6.2 and Campus 6.3 located in Bucharest,
- Parkview in Prague,
- two buildings of Brama Miasta in Łódź,
- Spark B in Warsaw,
- the first building of Centrum Poludnie in Wrocław,
- the first building from Wave project in Gdańsk.
They are expected to be the first Skanska properties to receive the rating in the following months.
“The pandemic forced the world to adjust to these exceptional circumstances. The work environment and workplaces are crucial in ensuring health and safety. As a sustainable developer and an office real estate market leader that operates on 10 city markets in CEE, we feel obliged to create our offices as healthy as possible and set a new market direction. The safety and wellbeing of our employees, customers, partners, and communities are Skanska’s top priority. Creating the ‘Care for Life Office Concept’, and applying for the new WELL Health-Safety Rating are parts of this endeavor,” said Jacob Møller-Nielsen, EVP Center of Excellence at Skanska commercial development business in Central Eastern Europe.
The WELL Health-Safety rating - is an evidence-based, third-party verified rating for all new and existing building and facility types focusing on operational policies, maintenance protocols, stakeholder engagement, and emergency plans, designed to empower owners and operators to take the necessary steps in order to prioritize the health and safety of their tenants, visitors and other stakeholders. The WELL Health-Safety Rating can help guide users in preparing their spaces for re-entry in a post-COVID-19 environment, instilling confidence in occupants and the broader community.[1]
Created and presented by IWBI, the WELL Health-Safety Rating is informed by guidance developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), global disease control and prevention centers and emergency management agencies, recognized standard-making bodies, such as ASTM International and ASHRAE, and leading academic and research institutions. IWBI has leveraged insights from its Task Force on COVID-19, established at the outset of the pandemic to help business and building leaders integrate actionable insights and proven strategies in the fight against COVID-19 and other respiratory infections. [2]
[1] Source: IWBI, https://www.wellcertified.com/health-safety
[2] Source: IWBI, https://resources.wellcertified.com/press-releases/international-well-building-institute-opens-enrollment-for-well-health-safety-rating-in-response-to-covid-19-with-significant-early-adoption/