Colliers achieves WELL Health-Safety rating for the Global City office project

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the buildings’ critical role in protecting people’s health, safety and well-being. The Global City office complex in Arion Green’s real estate investment portfolio is the tenth project for which Colliers has coordinated the certification process with WELL Health-Safety, the International WELL Building Institute’s newest assessment standard for limiting health risks.

In the context of an atypical 2020, building owners and tenants are facing the pressing need to meet high health and safety standards in the premises they manage and are now considering reducing the risks of infectious diseases by adopting solutions that can be implemented immediately, thus facilitating the creation of a health-safe working environment. According to public data, in the last six months, 18 projects have registered for the WELL Health-Safety Rating, designed to provide support for prevention, preparedness, adaptability and recovery in the context of Covid-19.

The Global City complex, comprising two Class A office buildings with a  leasable area of 51,000 square meters, achieved WELL Health-Safety certification in just four months, the entire certification process being coordinated by Colliers Romania, the only real estate consulting company with a dedicated team of WELL specialists.

“Collaboration with the owner and property manager in the certification process was very good, decisions to implement the measures were made in a very short time, and our experience in previous projects helped the IWBI review the documentation quickly. This certification provides extra assurance that employees can safely return to the office. In fact, the complex was also certified LEED EBOM (Existing Building Operations & Maintenance), Gold level for both buildings, but also in recognition of the quality, sustainable management, and environmental vision, with the extensive certification process also coordinated by Colliers 6 years ago”, states Oana Stamatin, Director Green Certification and Building Surveying at Colliers.

The WELL Health-Safety Rating Standard emerged in response to the recommendations from the IWBI Task Force on Covid-19, a group of approximately 600 health experts, virologists, academics, government officials, building specialists and real estate professionals. WELL Health-Safety certification addresses all building types, is evidence-based, and focuses on adopting operational policies, implementing maintenance protocols, and developing emergency plans. In order to maintain certification, projects must go through an annual certification renewal process, which helps ensure a high standard of health and safety is met in the long term.