Latest news with #healthyhomes
Associated Press
6 hours ago
- Health
- Associated Press
Velvaere Homes Achieve WELL Residence Certification
The WELL achievement recognizes Think Architecture's commitment to resident well-being through healthier and more resilient homes 'Achieving WELL Residence certification at Velvaere reflects our commitment to designing places that actively promote health, comfort, and resilience.'— Johnny Shirley, Principal SANDY, UT, UNITED STATES, July 30, 2025 / / -- Think Architecture announced today that two homes in Magleby Development's Velvaere wellness community, designed by the firm, have earned the WELL Residence seal. Located in Park City, Utah's iconic Deer Valley Resort, the homes were certified by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the global authority on healthy buildings, organizations, and communities. As a pilot participant in the WELL for residential program, Think Architecture contributed expert insight during the development of the certification framework. Their participation helped shape how WELL strategies are applied to single-family residences and reflects the firm's leadership in health-focused design. Companies earn the WELL Residence seal for individual residences upon completion of third-party review and verification of selected strategies. Evidence-based strategies in the WELL for residential program provide flexibility for projects to prioritize their own health goals. Out of more than 200 points available, a project needs to verify it meets at least 40 of those points to achieve a WELL Residence certification. The Velvaere homes each earned 114 points—well above the 40-point minimum and the highest score among pilot participants. Highlights of Think Architecture's strategies for its Velvaere WELL Residences include: • MERV-13 air filters, UV light treatment of cooling coils, and a sealed building envelope to reduce pollutants and support cleaner indoor air • Circadian lighting design aligned with natural light cycles to promote healthier sleep • Low-emission materials and finishes to reduce chemical exposure • Clean, filtered drinking water available at all faucets • Personal Health and Wellness Sanctuary in each home, including a cold plunge, infrared sauna, and space for spa treatments or personal fitness • Outdoor living areas and expansive views to enhance mental well-being and connection to nature • Access to community-wide amenities such as skiing, hiking, mountain biking, and swimming • Wellness Center amenities including cryotherapy, hyperbaric chamber, Aescape massage, experience showers, gym, meditation garden, and yoga to support an active lifestyle and recovery The WELL Residence achievement confirms Think Architecture has implemented health-focused strategies for the project and fulfilled requirements under IWBI's WELL for residential program—an evidence-based, third-party verified framework developed to transform the way homes are designed, built, and maintained to support human health and well-being. Notably, WELL residential certification continues for the life of the building, supported by performance verification systems such as continuous air quality monitoring to ensure standards are upheld over time. 'At Think Architecture, we believe homes should do more than shelter—they should support well-being at every level,' remarks Principal Johnny Shirley. 'Achieving WELL Residence certification at Velvaere reflects our commitment to designing places that actively promote health, comfort, and resilience. We're proud to be part of a movement that raises the standard for what people can expect from their homes.' Think Architecture joins a global community of leading brands that use the WELL for residential framework to create homes that positively impact occupant health. Informed by the science-backed principles of the WELL Building Standard and its 10 concepts—Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind, and Community—the WELL for residential program includes over 100 strategies that promote occupant health and well-being. Leading organizations around the world are embracing the WELL for residential framework in their communities. Since the launch of the WELL for residential pilot, organizations from a diverse range of countries—including the United States, Canada, the UK, China, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and the Netherlands—have enrolled projects to pursue certification. The development of the WELL for residential program drew upon two years of industry input, market insight, and expert recommendations from IWBI's WELL for residential Advisory, a working group of over 100 globally renowned subject matter experts including builders, architects, engineers, public health professionals, scientists, academics, and real estate leaders. The WELL for residential program seeks to transform the global residential market and ensure that everyone—regardless of background—has access to a home that enhances health and enables healthier choices. The WELL ecosystem includes WELL Certification under the WELL Building Standard, a library of health-focused strategies, the WELL Health-Safety Rating, WELL Performance Rating, WELL Equity Rating, WELL for residential, and the WELL Community Standard. WELL's holistic, evidence-based approach has become a roadmap for organizations to support human and social capital performance and elevate their ESG strategies. To date, nearly 30% of Global and Fortune 500 companies across more than 130 countries have adopted WELL strategies in over 74,000 commercial and residential locations totaling 5.5 billion square feet of space. About Think Architecture Think Architecture is a full-service design firm with over 40 years of experience and more than 200 clients served. Our collaborative team of professionals specializes in architectural design, commercial and residential architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, land use planning, and construction management. From concept through completion, we are committed to creating meaningful, resilient spaces that elevate the built environment. Beth Fillerup MARKETLINK +1 805-748-2135 email us here Visit us on social media: LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
RNZ News
17-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Lack of certification required for healthy homes
The system for certifying the new Health Homes Standards has been described as being like drivers issuing their own warrants of fitness. Since July 1st, all rental properties across the motu have been required to comply with the standards, which set minimum requirements for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage. Currently there is no certification required in order to complete an assessment, meaning nearly anyone can. It has prompted calls for an independent certification system, to ensure rentals are indeed healthy homes. Bella Craig reports. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Healthy homes standards in full next month
law housing 25 minutes ago All rentals must meet healthy homes standards from next month, so what do tenants and landlords need to know ahead of the deadline? Healthy homes standards first became law in 2019 and require rental properties to have sufficient heating, insulation, moisture controls and drainage, and draught stopping. Up to now the standards have been staged, with newer tenancies needing to meet the standards earlier, but now all tenancies must meet the standards. The Sustainability Trust is concerned that even with the healthy homes standards coming into force, there are likely still homes that are inefficient, leaving tenants with large power bills to keep them warm. MBIE's head of tenancy is Kat Watson. and Sustainability Trust's Fair Energy Manager is Phil Squire.
RNZ News
22-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Dunedin rental check reveal improvements needed in student accommodation
The Minister found landlords who had not ensured their properties were up to standard. Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas An investigation has found Dunedin students often find problems with rental properties soon after moving in. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment inspected student rentals this week to check that landlords weren't offering damp, rundown homes. From July, healthy homes standards will come into force, setting a benchmark for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture barriers, drainage and draught stopping in rental properties. The tenancy compliance and investigations team have already visited 53 properties and planned to visit more next week. The Ministry found landlords who had not ensured their properties were up to standard or reasonably clean before students moved in, but the problems were usually sorted out quickly. Maintenance issues - including heatpumps not working or needing installation, and healthy homes standards not being met within time frames - were also discovered during the visits. Most landlords who were contacted before visits were receptive, but the Ministry confirmed it would follow up with the landlords or property management companies who did not respond or declined inspections. The team observed recent maintenance or improvements had been done at several properties, but most properties needed minor work under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. "Several students explained that their landlord had completed smoke alarm inspections in the past two weeks and left a copy of a healthy homes standard statement at the property," the Ministry said. Otago University Students Association previously said many students were forced to live in cold, old, and mouldy flats, and did not speak out, fearing they would jeopardise future references or create more problems for themselves. Students had been very receptive to the visits, and appreciated advice on their rights and responsibilities, the Ministry said. A more detailed update on the state of Dunedin student rentals was expected later in the year. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Government's social housing model not delivering for Wellington residents, Rongotai MP says
Strathmore resident Daisy Taua says she has lost three lounge suites and three mattresses to black mould in the five years she's lived in her Kāinga Ora flat. Photo: RNZ / Rachel Helyer-Donaldson The government is set on shaking up the way social housing is provided in Aotearoa, but the time it is taking to make these changes is leaving dozens of people in dire need of a healthy home, says a Wellington MP. Thursday marks a year since the Housing Minister announced $140 million of investment into 1500 social homes, and it will be another 18 months until they are all completed. In January, Charlotte Smith and the five tāmariki under her care were evacuated from their mould-ridden and structurally unsafe home next to Wellington Zoo, and transferred to a four-bedroom apartment. It was the second home in 16 years living in social housing that she had been evacuated from. Each time her young, healthy baby - first her eldest child and then her youngest - has developed respiratory conditions with countless trips to the hospital emergency department as a result of mould and damp, she said. Two-year-old Wolf was onto his fourth portacot, she said. "The first one was a metre off the ground, and I found mould underneath, on his mattress. It was happening again, and that's why it was so triggering." The new apartment did not have mould, but it cost an extra $165 per week, which Smith could not afford. A tenant of a community provider, Smith now hoped to get into a Kāinga Ora house. She was one of 30 constituents in the Rongotai electorate, which covers Wellington's southern and eastern suburbs, who had asked local MP Julie Anne Genter, of the Greens, for help with their housing situation in the past year. They included individuals and families, both in emergency housing and on the transfer list, waiting to be put into housing or one that is more suitable. Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver Genter said one elderly couple was living in a house that was inaccessible and mould-ridden. It was affecting their health, she added, yet they had been been on the transfer waitlist for nine months with no updates. Thirty inquiries "may not sound like a lot", said Genter. "But in the context of a community where you have a severe need for healthy housing, this is very material, and it makes a huge difference to people's lives when they can get adequate housing." Strathmore resident Daisy Taua said she had lost three lounge suites and three mattresses to black mould in the five years she's lived in her Kāinga Ora flat. Bathroom ventilation, installed by the housing agency, had helped, said Taua, who suffered from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, making her particularly susceptible to mould and cold. But she slept on the couch because the downstairs bedroom was "like an icebox in winter". Kainga Ora regional director for Greater Wellington Vicki McLaren said "extensive work to remediate a mould issue" had been done in Daisy Taua's bathroom in 2023 and she had not raised any concerns to the agency about mould at the property since then. "If there are ongoing issues with mould or cold in the home, we strongly encourage Ms Taua to contact us so we can address them." McLaren said Kainga Ora was aware of Taua's health conditions and continued work to find another home for her to relocate to "however there are no suitable available properties to offer her at this time". Healthy, safe and affordable housing in Wellington was extremely difficult to get into, said Genter. "Yet it's really, desperately, needed because we have so many people who are living in inadequate social housing. Whether you're on the streets looking to be placed into a home or if you're on the transfer waitlist it is so challenging and hard our constituents." At the heart of the problem, said Genter, was the government's policy of putting housing developments on hold or under review. In the Rongotai electorate alone, six Kainga Ora developments - the equivalent of 215 homes - had been put on hold since December 2023. Genter said the government had "turned off the pipeline for new healthy state houses". It was not a numbers game, she said. "Each one of those is a person or a family whose everyday quality of life will be affected by having access to healthy housing, or not." McLaren said those developments remained under assessment, with decisions on individual projects, including those in Rongotai, to be made over the coming months, "although some sites will potentially need to wait for decisions beyond 2025-2026". "It's important to understand that we continue to deliver new homes while we are assessing some projects to ensure value for money, and that we are delivering in areas most needed ... This includes 44 homes delivered in Wellington city [this financial year]." Housing Minister Chris Bishop (L) and Associate Minister for Housing Tama Potaka. Photo: Louis Collins Last month the Minister and Associate Minister for Housing, Chris Bishop and Tama Potaka, surprised many when they announced the bulk of funding to build a thousand social homes, would go to five of the country's 80-plus community housing providers (CHPs). Of the 500 homes already underway, just 17 were for Wellington, in the Lower Hutt suburb of Wainuiomata. Dwell Housing Trust chief executive Elizabeth Lester, whose organisation missed out on the funding, said the ministry had told her that Pōneke "was not a priority right now". For local housing providers that felt like a "kick in the teeth", she added. One of Dwell's projects was Gordon Place, for 26 social homes in the suburb of Newtown, where homelessness was a visible and increasing issue. "Local housing providers are the best placed organisations to address those specific community needs and yet it looks like nothing going to be happening in our local community here in Wellington [city]." Housing Minister Chris Bishop said the government was committed to addressing New Zealand's housing crisis and was taking action, including in Wellington. "We are focusing on the fundamentals of housing supply, which is land supply and infrastructure funding and financing." In the current financial year Kāinga Ora had already delivered 191 social homes in the Wellington region and had another 58 under construction, he added. "As well as all of this, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is working with strategic partner Te Āhuru Mōwai to finalise their delivery schedule for social homes in the Wellington region, and we'll have more to say about this in due course." 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