Americans spend most of their waking lives at or traveling to the office. With that in mind, ICF teamed up with Perkins + Will to develop FITWEL – the first building certification designed to encourage personal health and wellness. This tipsheet outlines 14 areas that office building managers can improve to enhance their occupants’ quality of life. To learn more, visit: http://bit.ly/1SCQcsh

1. icfi.com
Fresh Fruit
Providing access to natural light
can improve mental and physical
health and boost employee
performance.
Operable shading gives occupants
the ability to control their own
workspace and may increase their
comfort and ability to work.
A quiet room can give employees
control over when they need to
work uninterrupted.
A break area can encourage
employees to eat lunch away
from their desks, improving
mental wellbeing and increasing
productivity.
A dedicated lactation room provides
nursing mothers privacy and may
increase productivity and decrease
absenteeism.
An exercise room or fitness facility
can increase employee physical
activity and decrease absenteeism.
Take the Stairs Healthy Snacks Water Station
Fitness CenterBreak Room
Signage near elevators encourages
employees to take the stairs instead
and increase their physical activity
throughout the day.
Price incentives encourage healthier
food choices and healthy vending
machine options may decrease chronic
conditions including obesity.
Providing water bottle refill stations
may decrease consumption of
sweetened beverages, lowering
employee obesity rates and related
health problems.
Covered, secure bicycle parking
encourages employees to cycle to work,
increasing physical activity levels.
Carpool and vanpool programs, with
priority parking, give employees a
sense of community and help the
environment.
Walking trails on campus encourage
healthy breaks and physical activity.
A therapeutic or healing garden area
can reduce stress levels and improve
employees’mental health.
Pedestrian routes from transit
stops to the office keep employees
safe and encourage use of public
transportation.
Office Life and Public Health
Insights from
ICF International
Take a look around this office to learn
how location, design, and practices
can lead to a healthier life—at work.
Fitwel® is an evidence-based certification program that assesses health-promoting aspects of buildings.
To learn more about what ICF did to support GSA in developing this workplace wellness rating tool,
visit icfi.com/Fitwel or contact Nicola Dawkins-Lyn at ndawkins@icfi.com
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