The Stay Well Delos branded rooms have helped design hotels like the Orlando Marriott and the MGM Grand, one executive noted, allowed owners to charge up to a fifth more for lodging by putting in implement changes relatively inexpensively. The Stay Well rooms have been cleaned with non-toxic products and ultraviolet lamps; they contained advanced dawn simulators and air purifiers and special filtration systems that removed chlorine from the shower water. Among Delos’ first stand-alone developments was DiCaprio’s recently occupied “wellness building”: a stunning condo complex with Siberian oak reflexology heated floors and antimicrobial coatings on counters and doors. The air in the building is purified and perfumed by custom aromatherapy ducts. In addition to its showers infused with vitamin C, it has a floor that supports posture. In 2019, Delos had raised $ 237 million from investors and said it had managed 1,555 projects in 48 countries; Forbes estimated its annual revenue at the time at $ 20 million.
While Delos’s Well Building Institute was developing a wellness rating system, an entire neighborhood in the city of Tampa, Florida was due to receive certification in 2014. The investment firm of Bill Gates and Jeff Wink, the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightnings, have pledged more than $ 20 million to the project. The first office building opened in July 2021, with a facade inspired by mangrove roots and the promise of lots of natural light and fresher air.
The Well Building certification, modeled on the LEED certification for “green” buildings, takes into consideration 11 factors: air, water, power, light, movement, “thermal comfort”, sound, materials, spirit, community and innovation. For a building to be Well certified, it must pay a registration fee of a few thousand dollars, as well as a program fee, determined by square footage, capped at around $ 10,000. “Performance tests,” in which an examiner arrives with a suitcase full of air quality sensors and takes into account the size of the plates in a company’s cafeteria, start at $ 6,500. Much of the Well Building Institute’s detailed explanation of its process goes to employers who expect healthier workers to perform better: “An average loss of productivity of 10% could be attributed to problems with health related to poor indoor air quality in office buildings, ”the institute notes.
Broadly speaking, certification standards are a regurgitation of known quantities augmented by office trends developed in Silicon Valley: The Well Building Institute’s air quality standard reflects Environmental Protection recommendations Agency and the World Health Organization, and its water quality measurements are perfect with the CDC. But to receive a higher level of certification, projects must also include a combination of more wobbly infrastructure like treadmill desks, subsidized portable devices that allow employees to monitor their physical activity, and smaller plates in cafeterias for discourage meals considered too large. Buildings that wish to achieve the Well designation can earn additional certification points, for example by installing sensors to continuously collect data on a building’s air quality, which Delos also sells.
