V01: Active Buildings and Communities – Above Green

(Required)

INTENT

To promote movement, physical activity and active living through the design of built spaces.

SUMMARY

This WELL feature requires projects to select from a series of design-based optimizations.

ISSUE

Physical activity, or rather, inactivity, has emerged as a primary focus of public health due to a rise in premature mortality and chronic diseases attributed to physical inactivity, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, stroke, dementia and some forms of cancer. Despite widely disseminated physical activity guidelines (Appendix V1), global estimates from 2016 show that nearly a quarter (23%) of the adult population are physically inactive. In addition, over time, our homes, schools, workplaces, communities, jobs and transportation systems have been physically designed to demand less movement and require more sedentary activities over time.

SOLUTIONS

The ways in which aspects of built spaces are designed offers a ubiquitous platform through which to deliver public health intervention. Active design, a form of environmental design, considers how different components of a building such as staircases, physical activity spaces and pedestrian-scale elements around the building exterior, can encourage daily physical activity and movement. At a community scale, active design considers the ways in which communities can encourage populations to be active through infrastructure such as bicycle lanes and green space; which, in addition to impacts on physical activity also impacts social cohesion, the environment and the economy.

IMPACT

The impact of changing the global physical activity narrative is substantial. Worldwide, if physical inactivity were reduced by just 10%, more than half a million deaths could be averted, while over one million deaths could be averted if physical inactivity were reduced by 25%.

REQUIREMENTS

Part 1

Design Active Buildings and Communities

For All Spaces

Achieve at least one point in one of the following features:

Feature V03: Movement Network and Circulation.
Feature V04: Active Commuter and Occupant Support.
Feature V05: Site Planning and Selection.
Feature V08: Physical Activity Spaces and Equipment.
Feature V09: Exterior Active Design.