Resilience and Occupant Comfort: Key Factors of High-Performance
June 26, 2015
Several aspects of a high-performance building may not come immediately to mind or may not be of the highest priority for facility executives are taking on increased importance these days.
One is resilience. Another is the well-being and health of occupants. One need look no further than the state in which our conference is being held to see the importance of resilient buildings amidst climate change related disasters. As another (less terrible) example of how resilience is turning mainstream, this
recent piece in The Atlantic describes the new Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The new museum, designed by Renzo Piano, includes a 15,500-pound door — the goal is to keep potential flood waters out and protect the art.
While most facility executives won't be working in buildings with giant flood doors and priceless works of art, all facility executives are responsible to some degree for the health and well-being of their occupants. How exactly they do this depends on the culture of each organization, but one tool that can help is a new rating system called the
WELL Building Standard. This LEED-like rating system helps users tailor buildings to make them as occupant friendly as possible.
Next
Read next on FacilitiesNet
