Fitwel is the World's Leading Certification System Committed to Building Health for All®

Session 2: Virtual

Leveraging the Integrative Process for Health

Monday, May 24, 2021

noon | Zoom

Complimentary | 1 LU/HSW

>>> REGISTER for virtual lecture

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This program is funded by a Sustainability and Resilience grant from the American Institute of Architects. It is one of three courses available in the "Designing for Health" certificate series.

Visit aiau.aia.org for more information.

Creating wellness: Though fitwel recently joined LEED and WELL in evaluating and rating the health-affecting aspects of the built environment, it rests on years of research by the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the strong foundation laid by the Center for Active Design (CfAD) leadership and collaboration in the Healthy Building movement. fitwel Certified buildings respond to the growing market demand for spaces designed to support healthier lifestyles. fitwel offers strategies for developing and maintaining optimum health-promoting environments, helping communities maximize equity and access and helping companies significantly boost their environmental sustainability goals.

The fitwel system is accessed through a carefully crafted digital portal. fitwel rates an environment’s performance across 12 categories and offers 63 design and operational strategies to improve a building’s performance. Users can treat the scorecard as a benchmark without seeking certification, or they can shore up their performance and submit evidence-based documentation and images or begin a dialogue that shifts the needle on healthy lifestyles. Scorecard objectives put the tools in the hands of more stakeholders. Fitwel strategies work together to deliver a synergistic and evidence-driven impact, covering a range of criteria from sustainable purchasing policies to onsite gardens, opportunities for fitness, healthy food standards, commuter access, and more. Rogean Cadieux-Smith led the effort to engage Crosstown Concourse and ChurchHealth to participate in the fitwel Community Pilot and help craft the certification program which launched worldwide in 2020.

Resilience in the Age of COVID: fitwel and WELL Institute have both been on the vanguard of providing tools in response to industry demand surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Viral Response module builds upon the global scientific evidence highlighted in fitwel: Research to Action to establish data-driven strategies that mitigate viral transmission, build trust, and create healthy environments for all occupants. While the Viral Response module was initiated during COVID-19, its strategies can minimize the spread of other infectious respiratory diseases, including influenza and legionnaires' disease.

Learning Objectives

• Overview of Wellness, Active Design and the Built Environment
• fitwel Certification Program
• Discover the unique genesis of fitwel
• Recognize the health impact categories and host of environments
• Shared Goals- How fitwel crosswalks with other systems to support health strategies and sustainability.
• Resilience in the Age of COVID: fitwel Viral Response Module

Rogean Cadieux-Smith leads health and wellness initiatives at LRK, bringing active design and wellness strategies to educational, health and community projects. As a Fitwel Ambassador, Rogean partnered with Crosstown Arts and ChurchHealth to earn Fitwel Community 3-Star rating to leverage program and amenities to increase access, equity, and wellness. She has led the design of two schools in Jackson, TN and has worked on numerous healthcare, commercial and civic projects, notably the Shelby County Health Department and Memphis 3.0 Comprehensive Plan.

Rogean earned her degree from University of Detroit Mercy, studied in Latin America and served with U.S. Peace Corps in Jamaica. Rogean passionately advocates for equitable design that incorporates biophilic and evidence-based process. She has earned a stellar reputation as a leader and collaborator, stewarding clients through the planning, programming, and design process. Rogean serves in Urban Land Institute Building Healthy Places: Health Leaders Network (Cohort 3) and is active in urban place-making, education and advocacy with University of Memphis Arts and Health Institute.

The integrative process, which has been leveraged in the green building movement, can be instrumental in adding a health focus to your next project. With America’s healthcare expenses continue to rise and we rebuild post-pandemic, collaboration with public health professionals will be more critical than ever.

In this course, you will learn the basic principles and structure of the integrative process and how it can be leveraged for meeting health goals. The course will highlight key considerations for early design phases as well as how to find public health professionals and the value that different stakeholders might bring.

Learning objectives

• Understand the basics of an integrative process.
• Explore how to incorporate health and well-being into the integrative process, including developing health-oriented goals and selecting relevant metric.
• Articulate the value for intentional health promotion in the design and construction process.
• Be able to identify public health professionals and related stakeholders in the design process and know what they bring to the table.