DES Recognized for Leadership in Sustainability by Fitwel

We’re pleased to announce that our recently completed Southline Amenities project has won the Best in Building Health Award for Highest Scoring Retail v2.1! Certified last year in San Francisco, the new 29,000-sf amenities building acts as a centralized gathering space for the Southline campus, with a cafe and coffee bar, fitness center, conference rooms, and gathering spaces. Deliberate design choices throughout serve to prioritize occupant health, a core focus of Fitwel certification. Notably, the structure is constructed from mass timber, which offers substantial biophilic benefits, creating a more natural and calming indoor environment. 

Selected from nearly 5,000 professionals across 50+ countries, this award celebrates her leadership, dedication and impact in advancing the healthy building movement. Reema is also LEED AP BD+C and WELL AP certified, and a vocal advocate for the integration of sustainable solutions in the built environment. She provides critical thought leadership to DES and its clients, in service of creating a greener future for generations to come. 

Fitwel is a certification system that puts occupant health at the forefront of building design and operation. It’s a bit different from our standard sustainability metrics, which often focus on things like energy and water. Fitwel is all about how a building impacts the people inside- their physical and mental well-being. It assesses a broad spectrum of factors, including the promotion of physical activity through architectural design, the provision of access to nutritious food options, the facilitation of social connectivity, the cultivation of mental well-being via elements such as natural lighting and biophilic integration, and the prioritization of occupant safety.

Fitwel serves as a complementary, rather than a competitive, framework to systems like LEED. LEED comprehensively addresses environmental sustainability, encompassing energy efficiency, water conservation, embodied carbon and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). While LEED incorporates IAQ as part of its broader sustainability strategy, Fitwel provides a more granular and dedicated approach to occupant health and wellbeing. It is feasible and often advantageous for projects to pursue both certifications, leveraging the synergistic potential between their respective objectives.

WELL and Fitwel are both laser-focused on occupant health. While WELL is considered a more rigorous system with specific performance thresholds, the two certifications share many common goals such as maximizing natural light, encouraging physical activity, healthy eating, and integrating outdoor restorative spaces. However, they differ in how they approach and implement these objectives.

We made several deliberate design choices, consistent with our firm’s typical approach, to prioritize occupant health, which significantly contributed to our Fitwel score. Notably, we integrated a mass timber structure, which offers substantial biophilic benefits, creating a more natural and calming indoor environment. Access to outdoor spaces was crucial; we designed numerous restorative gardens, providing opportunities for relaxation and physical activity. We placed a strong emphasis on encouraging movement, incorporating dedicated indoor and outdoor spaces for physical activity, including accessible stairways and walking paths. And finally, we implemented a comprehensive healthy food and beverage policy for the on-site restaurant, ensuring access to nutritious options.

While there were other elements, these were some of the most impactful strategies we employed—strategies that reflect our ongoing commitment to designing spaces that foster occupant well-being.

It’s important to reframe the conversation from upfront costs to long-term return on investment. Emphasize how health-focused design can enhance property value, lower operational costs through strategies that support energy and resource efficiency, and boost tenant satisfaction and productivity. 

Supporting these points with data-driven case studies that highlight measurable financial and social outcomes is key. Additionally, positioning certifications like Fitwel as a tool for market differentiation and aligning with the growing demand for ESG-aligned development strengthens the overall value proposition.

Start by integrating Fitwel strategies early in the design process—many of the requirements align naturally with good design practice.

At DES, we have an “all hands on deck” mentality when it comes to sustainability and wellness design. We are focused on better communicating our value proposition to our clients and project teams so that they understand the evolving sustainability landscape, code requirements, and latest technologies and methodologies. Our professional staff are well versed in sustainable and wellness design standards and certification, with over 50% of our team members certified in LEED, WELL, and/or Fitwel. Our in-house sustainability experts continue to develop internal tools and provide training and support to project teams to achieve great design and outcomes.

Learn more about Southline here

A rigorous third-party healthy building certification system, Fitwel sets the industry standard for evidence-based strategies that promote health and well-being through the built environment. Fitwel’s Best in Building Health is an annual list honoring the top global real estate companies and individuals leading the healthy building movement by example, leveraging the trusted Fitwel Standard to define excellence in building health for all.