WASHINGTON, September 16, 2024 – In a historic milestone for military housing, Corvias managed homes at Fort Meade and Fort Liberty have become the first military housing units to achieve the WELL Residence certification from the International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI). This prestigious recognition marks a transformative leap in enhancing on-post military residences to meet critical thresholds for indoor health and safety. This announcement was made at IWBI’s Healthy Building Policy Summit, hosted in partnership with Georgetown University’s Global Cities Initiative, marking the inaugural gathering of a diverse group of policymakers, government officials, industry leaders and health experts focused on exploring opportunities to advance health and well-being in buildings, organizations, and communities.
For the first time ever, on-post military housing units have undergone rigorous third-party evaluation in accordance with the WELL for residential standard, the residential application of evidence-based WELL Building Standard which serves as a global leading certification and ratings platform for healthy buildings. The achievement displays that significant, verifiable improvements to living conditions for service members and their families are entirely feasible. Corvias' commitment to implementing scalable science-backed strategies to improve indoor living conditions, with third party verification against leading health standards, aligns seamlessly with the Department of Defense 2024 Resilient and Healthy Defense Communities Strategy.
"Corvias' achievement of WELL Residence certification stands as a testament to our dedicated approach to partnership and innovation," said Chris Wilson, Corvias Chief Executive Officer. “We are committed to ensuring that military families live in homes that not only support their current well-being but also fortify them against future health challenges, ultimately leading to stronger and more resilient communities. We are encouraged by the scalability of this program to achieve third party indoor health certification and the prospects of broad adoption of these strategies across our peer companies in privatized military housing."
WELL Residence certification is a robust process for measuring and validating that the project has implemented evidence-based solutions across key categories, including air and water quality, thermal comfort, lighting and other critical indoor environmental quality factors.
Corvias employed a comprehensive process for improving and measuring indoor conditions in family housing, implementing scientifically proven solutions into homes, and achieving benchmarks for indoor health without the need for lengthy renovations. Improved conditions were then validated through testing of air quality, water quality, humidity and lighting, with commitments to sustain and validate ongoing adherence to these performance benchmarks. Corvias also deployed strategies to support nutrition, physical activity and mental health, and to foster a sense of community.
“By focusing on the health and well-being of service members and their families, Corvias is raising the bar for military housing,” said Rachel Hodgdon, president and CEO of the International WELL Building Institute. “We applaud Corvias for this milestone achievement.”
WELL Residence certification of this initial representative sample of existing and occupied homes demonstrates that such wellness standards can be achieved across the Defense Department’s entire inventory of 205,000 domestic housing units and without the need for traditionally expensive renovations or new construction. This means that over 700,000 service members could benefit from similar advancements, fostering a new standard of living that emphasizes health and well-being.
To date 50 homes at Fort Meade and Fort Liberty have achieved the WELL Residence certification designation. In response to a participation survey, residents at Fort Meade reported an 82% increase in satisfaction with their housing and a 93% increase in satisfaction with their water quality, and 88% of these residents had increased interest in other wellness strategies to enhance their living experience.
The cost-effective strategies Corvias has employed across air, water, humidity and lighting in these homes, which are engineered primarily at point of use, can be replicated across large portfolios of housing inventory. Demonstrating the importance of protecting our soldiers and their families from critical indoor health risks, including airborne mold spores, harmful forever chemicals such as PFAS in water, toxins and other contaminants, Corvias is in the process of seeking Army approval to roll the program out across its full portfolio.
Corvias is now among thousands of organizations, including nearly 150 of Fortune 500 and Fortune Global companies across more than 130 countries, which have adopted WELL strategies in more than 74,000 commercial and residential locations totaling 5.5 billion square feet of space. For more information and to sign up to receive updates, please visit Corvias’ Wellness Residential Program web site.
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About Corvias
Corvias partners with the Department of Defense and higher education institutions to solve infrastructure and energy resiliency challenges and to create long-term, sustainable value through our unique Solutions Through Partnerships® approach. Corvias partnerships enhance the well-being in our communities, including at the largest renewable energy project in Kansas and at resiliency projects nationwide. For 42,000 residential units across 10 states, at seven military installations and 14 universities, our more than 72,000 residents consistently highly rank the courtesy and professionalism of our maintenance and leasing personnel.