It has been five years since the pandemic quarantined us to our home offices, which eventually evolved into successful hybrid work schedules. Now it seems in-office days are on the rise, but the traditional office looks and feels a lot different than it did just five years ago.
Led by the federal government and major corporations, the return-to-office trend is gaining traction. According to the “2025 Facilities Executive Contractor Expectations Survey,” published by our sister publication Contracting Profits, nearly 80 percent of facility executives indicated that their occupants are in the office four to five days a week. New York is leading the charge based on data from Placer.ai’s Office Index, which shows the city is just 5.5 percent short of 2019 pre-pandemic occupancy.
With more occupants returning to the office, building owners and facility executives should be looking for ways to improve working conditions.
One way to accomplish this is by pursuing a healthy building certification like WELL or Fitwel. Standards focus on lighting, movement, quality water, food choices, indoor air quality (IAQ) and more — all aspects that promote a healthy and productive workplace. These are also all items the facility management department oversees.
Thanks to COVID-19, many occupants are now aware of the term IAQ. This might be the best place for facility executives to start — and, actually, the timing couldn’t be better.
During Climate Week in September, the International WELL Building Institute went a step further by partnering with experts in academia and public health to form the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air.
Indoor air is often two to five times more polluted than outdoor air and contributes to respiratory illness, cognitive decline, reduced productivity and other negative attributes. And yet, IAQ has received far less attention in both the government and scientific communities.
This commission strives to change that with its goal of shaping policy and increasing awareness surrounding not only the health benefits of IAQ, but the economic and societal benefits as well.
WELL recently hosted its Healthy Building Policy Summit to move this issue forward. FacilitiesNet was proud to be a media sponsor and sent Senior Editor Dan Hounsell to the event. Look for updates on FacilitiesNet on how the industry will be working towards developing standards for improving IAQ and how facility professionals can improve their buildings.
Dan Weltin is the Director of Content Strategy and Engagement for Trade Press Media Group. He has 20 years of experience covering the facility management and commercial cleaning industries.
