What it takes to construct a ‘healthy building’

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

September 9, 2022 9:00 AM SGT

Paya Lebar Quarter is an integrated development that includes the three residential towers of Park Place Residences, the PLQ Mall and the three office towers (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Melbourne-based Jack Noonan, vice-president of Asia Pacific at International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), has been an advocate of the healthy buildings movement for 15 years — championing climate change programmes and sustainability in Australia. Twelve years ago, he was called into a brand-new office building where the glare was so bad that people packed up their stuff and went home instead of working. “It was blinding people,” relates Noonan via a Zoom call on Aug 22. “It was unlike anything I’ve seen. You walk into the lobby and there are beach umbrellas.”

The design of the building had not taken into consideration its impact on the people who would be working there. “People were leaving the building,” says Noonan. “We need to think about the productivity implications of a building. If you have a healthier building, you have a healthier organisation, and people who are more productive and more engaged.”

When it comes to running a building, energy cost is just 1%, with 9% going to operating costs. “The rest of the building’s cost is the salaries of the people who work in the building,” says Noonan. “That represents over 90% of the costs associated with the building. If you don’t design or operate a building that fundamentally addresses the needs of the people within that building, it becomes very, very expensive if something goes wrong.”

According to Noonan, “the great resignation” over the last few years is a sign that people have decided they want more impact from their workplace. “If you, as an organisation, an employer or building owner, don’t prioritise people’s health and well-being, it’s going to cost you a lot of money in the long term,” he says.

The idea that buildings can impact our health and well-being is not new. In fact, the Sick Building Syndrome was first identified in the 1970s, while the World Health Organization released a report in 1984 that estimated up to 30% of new and remodelled buildings may have problems with poor indoor air quality.

Noonan of IWBI: It is no longer good enough for our buildings not to make us sick; they should make us healthy and well. And that is the change that we're seeing in the market, particularly over the last couple of years (Photo: Jack Noonan)

‘Flipping the narrative’

“What we’re trying to do at WELL is to flip the narrative,” says Noonan. “It is no longer good enough for our buildings not to make us sick; they should make us healthy and well. And that is the change that we’re seeing in the market, particularly over the last couple of years.”

Noonan reckons the pandemic has accelrated the trend. Four years ago in 2018, there were 148 million sq ft (13 million sq m) of WELL-certified projects across 32 countries. As of July 2022, there are over 4 billion sq ft (372 million sq m) of WELL-certified projects across 123 countries, says Noonan.

Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) is the first mixed-use development in Singapore where all three office towers have received the prestigious WELL Core & Shell Certification. PLQ was developed by Australian-listed property group Lendlease and opened in 2019 at Paya Lebar Central.

PLQ was the first project in Singapore to register for WELL Certification in 2017. Many sustainability features have been incorporated into the development, such as the 100,000 sq ft of green spaces, and use of native plants and natural materials. The buildings have top-of-the-line air filtration systems; use low or zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs) materials in the furniture, fittings and fixtures; and provide access to outdoor views and daylight for office tenants. Exercise areas and facilities are also within easy access. The floor plates of the office towers at PLQ 1, 2 and 3 average 26,000 sq ft.

“One good thing arising from the pandemic is that people have become a lot more aware of how the air quality and the indoor environment affect their own physical and mental well-being,” says Joelle Chen, sustainability director at Lendlease Singapore.

An independent team has tested the buildings at PLQ across 10 different categories within the WELL Building Standards — air, water, lighting, nourishment, acoustics, thermal comfort, movement, materials, mind, and community. “It’s not just about Lendlease saying that they’re going to design a great space, it’s actually about proving that it is a great space,” says Noonan of IWBI. “Now, particularly in 2022, there’s a really strong focus on the actual performance of buildings. And this is something that Lendlease has led globally for a number of years.”

Paya Lebar Quarter became the first mixed-use development in Singapore where all three office towers received the prestigious WELL Core & Shell Certifications (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Lendlease’s WELL portfolio

Lendlease is also the world’s first commercial owner to earn a WELL portfolio score from IWBI for its office portfolio. Lendlease’s International Towers Sydney in Australia was the first to be awarded WELL Core & Shell Certification at the Platinum level, the highest certification available from IWBI.

“Over the last couple of years, we have seen a focus on quality and performance, and ensuring that the design intent is executed,” says Noonan. “WELL certification is performance-based, and third-party verified.”

IWBI will be partnering Lendlease on future initiatives, particularly in Southeast Asia, “to show the rest of the market how it’s done”, says Noonan. In Singapore, Lendlease is managing the redevelopment and subsequent operation of the new Shaw Tower at Beach Road. The former 35-storey Shaw Tower was built in 1975. It has been torn down and construction has commenced for a new 200m future-grade mixed-use tower, which is part of the ongoing rejuvenation of the Downtown Core into a work-live-play precinct and an extension of the CBD.

Lendlease and security firm Certis has also formed a partnership to purchase Certis Cisco Centre at Jalan Afifi near PLQ for $150 million, and the partnership is jointly redeveloping the site into a new “green and sustainable project” with about 322,917 sq ft (30,000 sq m) of office space.

The Australian property and construction group has also undertaken the construction of a large-scale, greenfield vaccine facility located at Tuas Biomedical Park. Indeed, Lendlease has constructed more than 90% of the biotech facilities at the 280ha Tuas Biomedical Park.

Cycling path at the 100,000 sq ft open space at PLQ that links to the park connector (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

‘Strong adoption’

Besides Singapore, other top countries in Asia Pacific that are adopting the WELL Building standards and accreditation include China, India, Australia and Thailand, according to IWBI’s Noonan. He estimates that around 25% to 30% of all commercial office space in Australia — not just new commercial office space — are currently engaged in the WELL programme.

Last year for instance, the office tower at 500 Collins Street, Melbourne, was awarded the Platinum level, the highest level certification under the WELL Building standard. The 26-storey building was completed in 1973. Although it is a 50-year-old building, it met all 10 performance categories under the WELL building standards.

Australia may be a pioneer in Asia Pacific in terms of WELL building standards, while it may still be early days for Singapore. But Noonan sees Singapore’s potential in “reaching greater levels of market saturation than Australia”, given the city-state’s focus on health and well-being.

There is also a strong adoption of WELL building standards in the residential sector across Asia. “We have growing participation from the education and healthcare sectors as well,” says Noonan. “There’s a strong appetite for the education sector and the healthcare sector to address health and well-being within their spaces.”

The first building in Singapore and Southeast Asia to be awarded the Zero Energy certification by the International living Future Institute (ILFI) is the National University of Singapore School of Design and Environment in November 2020. The Zero Energy certification by ILFI is based on actual performance and awarded to green buildings where 100% of its energy needs on a net annual basis is supplied by on-site renewable energy sources, with no combustion.

Two of the largest new hospitals in Australia are pursuing a WELL certification. “They are worth over A$1 billion [$962 million], and are public hospitals,” says Noonan. “They are government-led initiatives and not driven by the private sector.”

Chen of Lendlease: One good thing arising from the pandemic is that people became a lot more aware of how the air quality and the indoor environment affects their own physical and also mental well-being (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Focus on ‘health equity’

Noonan feels that it is important to focus on “health equity”, which means making sure that people are not left behind in the movement. “We need to make sure that in returning to work, and in returning to our buildings, particularly in light of the Covid pandemic, we remember that we shouldn’t just be designing or operating buildings for the 70% of the normal population,” he explains. “We need to be designing and operating buildings for all people of different abilities and different vulnerabilities as well.”

Singapore is the Asia Pacific headquarters for many Fortune Global 500 companies, and more than 20% of these companies are using WELL building standards across their organisations. “They are making commitments at their headquarters in London, or their headquarters in New York and across their entire operation,” says Noonan. “That’s why we’re seeing such a strong appetite for this in Asia Pacific as well. Ultimately, it’s going to be impacting Singapore because it’s impacting these Fortune 500 companies.”

After the pandemic, there is a new challenge facing most employers and office landlords — “drawing people back to office,” says Lendlease’s Chen. “As someone who works on a hybrid arrangement, there are some days I work at home, some days I work in the office,” she adds. “I really do look forward to coming back to the office because the environment is so lovely, and obviously, it’s also about human connections as well.”

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