Open the stainless steel-covered refrigerator door at Tavistock Development Company's headquarters in Lake Nona and interior lights illuminate rows of canned, carbonated, flavored water.On the counter, apples and oranges fill glass bowls. A meeting room centers around bicycle desks and treadmills. Everyone — including a Tavistock director — shares open-air office space with desks that elevate to standing position. Vitamin C showers are an option in Lake Nona at Tavistock's new Landon House apartments, a Marriott and a model home."You might see, elsewhere, any one of these features," said Gloria Caulfield, who oversees Lake Nona Institute. "But it's the comprehensive package of all of them combined that make them unique." With nary a Diet Coke in sight, developers of Lake Nona have ventured into a relatively new type of healthy-building certification called the Well Building Standard, affiliated with the better-known LEED movement. Tavistock's offices and town-center building are the first in Florida to win the certification, which has been awarded to about 250 projects worldwide during the last three years.
Brian Lomel, an engineer with Orlando-based TLC Engineering, said Well Building looks beyond the energy footprint of the building."Green building means you have certain paint, carpet and windows," said Lomel, who this year became accredited by the International Well Building Institute. "It doesn't address chronic health issues. What's more important — the people or the building?"Increases in health issues including obesity and diabetes point to environmental concerns, Lomel said.The field of environmental certifications has become crowded in recent years with Green Globes, net zero, and BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology). The New York-based group Delos entered the arena three years ago with its Well Building certification that focuses on building occupants as much as structures. Something as simple as lighting can translate into a better-rested workforce: What's known as circadian lighting graduates during the day from subtle influences of blues/whites into reds/yellows during the day, reducing people's production of melatonin and allowing for more restful sleep."
The big difference between a green building and Well Building is that, with the Well Building, you are trying to affect someone 24 hours a day," Lomel said. "It's not that working under these lights will make you work faster. If you've been stimulated by working under the wrong kind of light, it messes with the sleep cycle and productivity the next day."Wells Fargo, Adventist Health and the YMCA are all Florida employers that have invested in the Well Building seal of approval for buildings in other parts of the country. In fall 2013, CBRE Group's headquarters in Los Angeles became the first Well-certified pilot office.Costs range depending on the type and size of project. Registration is $1,500 to $10,000, Certification is more than $4,000. Ensuring the building performs is more expensive — about $9,000, according to IWBI.The inspections, called performance verifications, measure how the building performs under seven categories: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind.
Tavistock aims to be the first developer in Florida to complete Well Building-certified apartments. Its upscale rental community called The Landon House is set to have 279 units and be completed in December. For the 91 tenants who have signed leases, the average rent is $1,460, the company reported.Starting in the fall, Landon House tenants may opt for an a la carte menu of health and wellness options for an additional $50 to $150 month.How much all of the lighting methods, fitness cues, nutritional emphasis and purified air translate into healthier living continues to be determined. IWBI said its standards reflect evidence-based research.At Lomel's house in South Florida, the engineer has introduced air-filtration systems, LED lights, Icynene insulation, a metal roof with white reflective material, carpet-free floors and engineered windows. He said he can't necessarily pinpoint health improvements but he said his commitment is evident."I can't convince people to do things if I haven't done them myself," he said.
At Tavistock Development's Lake Nona offices, office walls are banked in floor-to-ceiling windows. Some areas are "quiet rooms" to offer an escape from the open-air communal work spaces. Caulfield said the company might measure employee health next spring when the headquarters have been open a year.Little things, though, have become apparent."We had people who were addicted to Diet Cokes. One person drank seven to eight a day," she said. "After a few weeks of this, they said they didn't even miss it."The business of Alphaplas Ltd was started in 1995 supplying to the trade and DIY, with PVCu fascia, soffit, cladding, trims etc, along with PVCu windows, doors, and conservatories. Due to a demand, from the general public, we finally established a fitting service. The ‘retail’ side of the business grew to the stage that a sales manager was employed as well as five salesmen, telephone canvassers and foot canvassers to bring in the ‘leads’. Advertising by radio and posh magazines as well as newspapers, made the company very busy in Devon but more so in Cornwall.After many years of trading we decided that we were like many other double glazing companies, employing high pressure sales techniques and carefully worded adverts with ‘special offers’ and ‘super discounts’ and if you need ‘selling to’ there are still plenty that will pin you in your own front room
, until you sign up! Yes it still goes on!.. A long way down the road, with 90% of our business coming from recommendations, we do not employ salespersons or offer unbelievable special discounts. • If you know what you want, and know the size, we will even give you a price on the telephone, obviously subject to survey.• If you do invite us to your home, one of the Directors will visit, we don’t want to sit down a talk about the weather or politics! We will discuss your requirements and take some measurements. • We then leave and go away and work out an accurate price and get any information that we were unable to provide when we visited you. • We will not try and stay any longer than you want us to.• We will then contact you with the price and answer any further questions that you may have or give advice that you may seek. • Most of all we are down to earth, honest, working class folk. Double Glazing Sealed Units Specifications Our double glazed units consist of Planitherm Total Plus Glass with Edgetech Super Spacer and are 90% Argon Gas filled;
this gives the best chance of keeping warm air in and cold air out, it also reduces the transfer of noise. Where you want privacy we use Pilkington glass patterns. will provide information on the glass. You will see their advertising on television, however, to cover the cost of this, they have started a dealership network. You will not find us on the list, as a matter of principle we will not join. To join costs money, so puts the price up, is it not enough that we use their products? Cheeky beggers!www.edgetechig.co.uk will provide information on the spacer bar and its advantages. Yes we are on the dealership list, they don’t charge us, that is good business. So whether you want to replace your old timber or aluminium windows or update your uPVC you will have a ‘head start’ keeping warm and comfortable. It is sensible to use these products when considering a new conservatory, porch or garden room. When considering a glass roof for your conservatory, ‘self cleaning’ glass is available.