Teknion's WELL Journey

At Teknion - a company responsible for designing and manufacturing products that support workplace wellness - integrative thinking is a driver of core business.

With a commitment to the synthesis of design, technology, science and humanistic principles in the context of social, economic and environmental ethics, it’s no surprise that “ethonomics” is a goal of the company. Teknion describes ethonomics or “ethical economics” as “designing for the principles of the modern workplace” - an idea that strongly resonates with WELL.

Teknion recognized the impact that the WELL Building Standard would have on the design community and manufacturing industry as early as 2013, when WELL v1 was still in its pilot phase. Since then, they’ve achieved WELL Certification at five Teknion showrooms.

Tracy Backus, Director of Sustainable Programs at Teknion, spoke with us about Teknion’s WELL journey.

WHY WELL?

At Teknion, we believe that the true measure of a space is how it makes us feel.

We see WELL as a means to minimize the impact of harmful product ingredients and materials. WELL does far more than that but furniture is three-dimensional and has the potential for significant chemical impact. For example, the intent of Feature 97: Material Transparency aims to promote transparency in the supply chain. As a company committed to honest manufacturing, Teknion makes this feature achievable by providing clients with insight into the origin of their product ingredients. With the shared vision of ethonomics, Teknion and WELL complement one another in recognizing the importance of eliminating toxins in materials for the benefit of human health.

WELL CERTIFICATION

In 2017, Teknion obtained WELL Certification at the Silver level at their Toronto showroom, becoming the 27th WELL Certified project globally. Today, we are pursuing recertification for this space and hope to advance to WELL Gold under the WELL v2™ pilot. Upgrading to WELL v2 seemed like a natural next step for us. As an early adopter, we jumped at the chance to advance our understanding of WELL and see how the next version of WELL could shape our Toronto showroom going forward.

• Toronto - WELL Certified Silver in May 2017
• Boston - WELL Certified Gold in September 2017
• Dallas - WELL Certified Gold in March 2019
• New York - WELL Certified Gold in May 2019
• Los Angeles - WELL Certified Gold in August 2019

WELL FEATURES WITH IMPACT

WELL has had a transformative impact on the daily lives of our employees. One of my colleagues put it best when she said, “there is something in the air. Whether it’s the sense of pride the employees feel that occupy the space, the shift in our story and how our clients perceive us, the air and natural daylight that uplifts us, there is just something in the air that has changed since we received WELL Certification.” Serval other employees have appreciated other concepts in the following ways.

MIND

Post-occupancy employee surveys verify WELL has had a range of positive effects. Employees reported they felt 16% more productive at work, while 86% of employees reported workplace enhancements implemented for WELL Certification has increased productivity.

NOURISHMENT

Prior to WELL, our snacks were pre-packaged and average - they were not the healthiest of choices. We reallocated our spending to have fresh fruit every day, high fiber, gluten-free cookies, rice cakes and a number of other healthy options. We use the Nourishment concept to educate our visitors on how easily these transitions can happen.

BEYOND WELL CERTIFICATION

Outside of the WELL certification process, Teknion has built market awareness through education and advocacy. Teknion has always been committed to sharing knowledge and demonstrating commitment to core values by sharing them with customers
and the design community as a core leadership value.

• The people. At the moment, Teknion’s staff includes 20 WELL APs, one WELL Faculty member and one WELL concept advisor. In 2019, we hope to help 10 more employees become WELL APs.
• The commitment. Teknion has hosted a number of WELL events including WELL Workshops, Roundtables and GBCI Performance Testing Agent training in showrooms across the US, Canada, Europe and Asia. Perhaps most notable was an eight-week WELL AP exam prep course hosted in Teknion showrooms across the US, Canada, UK, Latin America and Asia which educated over 800 learners!

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM WELL

The WELL Building Standard is a tool to drive change. Even if that change is incremental, it can be very inspirational. As a human-centric standard, WELL has encouraged manufacturers to give consumers what they want and are beginning to expect, transparency. People are motivated to improve their well-being and when we consider the built and natural environments together, we find that what’s best for the planet is what’s best for people.