JLL Asia Pacific marks well-being milestone with world’s first WELL Portfolio Score for building occupiers

SINGAPORE, 6 August 2020 – JLL is the first corporate occupier in the world to receive a WELL Portfolio Score. This marks another milestone in the company’s focus on employees’ health and well-being after the JLL Shanghai HKRI Taikoo Hui became the first project in the region to be awarded the WELL Platinum Certification in 2017.

The WELL Building Standard is the industry’s leading health-focused benchmark for buildings. And with health and well-being in the built environment being an increasing focus for developers and companies in light of Covid-19, JLL’s WELL Portfolio Score – awarded by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) by applying the WELL Building Standard – is a significant metric that showcases that WELL features are applied across workspaces within its Asia Pacific portfolio.

“At JLL, the health and well-being of our people is of utmost importance. And we’re extremely proud to be the first corporate occupier to receive the WELL Portfolio Score. It underlines our commitment to our employees in our offices across the region,” says Anthony Couse, Chief Executive Officer, JLL Asia Pacific. “We started our journey with WELL three years ago with our JLL Shanghai office because we realise that it is important to create a workplace that not only demonstrates JLL’s sustainable practices, but also one which is healthy, productive and helps our employees to thrive. Since then, we have progressively upgraded several of our offices while implementing WELL health features across our portfolio to better meet the needs of our people.”

A healthy portfolio

The WELL Portfolio programme was introduced by IWBI in 2018 for owners, developers and tenants to streamline and scale health and wellness strategies across multiple assets in their real estate portfolios and throughout their organisations.

“WELL Portfolio is a mechanism that can guide organisations on a journey to implement, assess and celebrate proven wellness strategies and performance at scale,” says Rick Fedrizzi, IWBI Chairman and CEO. “It enables participants to impact the well-being of many (within their portfolio) while improving the organisation’s competitive advantage.”

“We were very keen to be part of the WELL Portfolio Score right from the start as we wanted to assess how we’ve fared after rolling out WELL health-focused features in our Asia Pacific offices in the last couple of years. These features, such as lighting and ventilation, help improve the comfort, performance and most importantly, the physical and mental health of our employees no matter which office they are based at,” says Matthew Clifford, Global Product Owner, Energy and Sustainability Services, JLL. “While we are very proud of how far we’ve come to receive the WELL Portfolio Score, we will also be looking at where we can do even better for our employees.”

Importance in a post-pandemic world

The worldwide trend towards healthier indoor spaces was gaining traction before the Covid-19 outbreak. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, the integration of health and the built environment is more urgent than ever.

According to research from Harvard University’s Healthy Buildings Lab, buildings are able to promote better health and help stem the spread of infectious disease through improvements in elements such as air quality and humidity levels. From reviewing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems (HVAC) to having better microbe and mould controls, there are a host of ways to ensure healthier workplaces.

“Amid this global pandemic, our buildings play an even greater role in promoting public health. We believe that buildings and those who tend to them – owners and developers, facilities managers and HR professionals – can be frontline caregivers in terms of being agents of health,” says Rachel Gutter, President, IWBI.

“The real estate industry has already been moving towards healthier and more sustainable buildings. Covid-19 futher accelerates that process. We’ve been hearing a lot from our clients and partners about the need for greater wellness and health features in buildings to better protect their greatest asset – people; JLL is helping them in their journeys,” says Mr Couse. “As we emerge from the pandemic, I believe we can reshape our built environment to boost the well-being of its occupants.”