IWBI and UF College of Design, Construction and Planning Announce innovative university WELL practicum
Collaboration allows students to apply advanced knowledge in human-centered sustainability through WELL building design.
(New York, September 29, 2021) — The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and the University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning have announced the groundbreaking WELL university practicum.
The WELL practicum, devised and led by University of Florida Sustainability and the Built Environment Program Director Bahar Armaghani, allows students to learn and directly apply knowledge of WELL Building Standard (WELL) concepts to leverage design as a public health intervention tool. Students will have the opportunity to apply these skills to an actual project on campus pursuing certification. The project is in collaboration with faculty from the UF Department of Interior Design, Dr. Lisa Platt from the UF Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience, Epstengroup Principal Lauren Wallace, Jason Hough and the UF Clinical Translational Sciences Institute.
“This is a tall task, but I have always believed that health and well-being need to be part of our program. With the pandemic, it became more crucial,” Armaghani said.
The practicum offers the unique option for students to utilize advanced knowledge in human-centered sustainability through WELL building design. The skills gained from WELL v2 – the latest version of the WELL Building Standard – for designing, building and maintaining spaces will contribute to human physical and mental well-being as they prepare students to use these resources in the real world. Other universities will also have the opportunity to leverage similar, WELL-based courses in the future.
The first day of the course was highlighted by a virtual speech from IWBI President and CEO Rachel Hodgdon.
“The pandemic has taught us to focus on people-first places and people-first policies,” Hodgdon said. “I thank you students for rising to this opportunity as we not only design buildings which are better for the planet, but are better for the people. I am so thankful to the UF community for rallying around this lab, the first of its kind in the world.”
Located within the Health Sciences District on campus, the WELL learning lab course will use the Clinical Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) located within the Clinical Translational Research Building (CTRB). This building combines clinical space, dry labs, research and office space for departments within the UF Colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health and Health Professions.
The WELL Building Standard is the world’s leading health-focused building rating system. Developed over 10 years and backed by the latest scientific research, WELL sets pathways for accomplishing health-first factors that help everyone by supporting physical and mental health across 10 core concepts: air, water, nourishment, light, movement, materials, sound, thermal comfort, mind and community. Rigorous performance standards for design interventions, operational protocols and company-wide practices are verified by a third party. WELL also provides a framework for translating research to practice that enables the ability to design in a way that prioritizes people’s health and well-being to mitigate the effects of climate change.
About University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning
The University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning is one of the largest design, planning and construction institutions in the country with more than 1,700 students and offers programs in architecture, construction management, historic preservation, interior design, landscape architecture, sustainability and the built environment and urban and regional planning.
About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the world’s leading organization focused on deploying people first places to advance a global culture of health. IWBI mobilizes its community through the administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL) and the WELL Health-Safety Rating, management of the WELL AP credential, the pursuit of applicable research, the development of educational resources, and advocacy for policies that promote health and well-being everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.
*International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL Portfolio, WELL Portfolio Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rating, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Health-Equity, WELL Performance Rating, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Performance, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.
