Hines, an international real estate firm, announced that the company has become a Founding Alliance Member of the Well Living Lab, joining other organizations such as the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) as Founding Alliance Members. The Well Living Lab, formed as a collaboration between Delos and Mayo Clinic, explores the connection between health and the indoor environment. As a founding member, Hines will support the Lab's research in identifying and quantifying the key variables that improve health, well-being and productivity in indoor spaces. Hines also plans to work with the Lab to identify further needed research and to conduct studies in the Well Living Lab to advance this research. 

Through the Alliance community, the Well Living Lab collaborates with companies, nonprofit organizations and industry experts who want to play a leadership role in understanding and creating indoor environments that enhance human health and well-being. 

Hines Innovation Officer Charlie Kuntz said, "Healthy living and working spaces have long been a critical component in delivering and managing our buildings. By learning alongside the experts at the Well Living Lab, Hines can help deliver the most healthy, productive spaces in the world." 

Founded by a mechanical engineer with a pioneering commitment to sustainability, Hines has long been on the forefront of energy-conserving and quality-of-life initiatives, such as LEED and ENERGY STAR- each with a significant focus on improving the built environment and protecting the natural environment. This new involvement with the Well Living Lab will raise that focus to a new level with data the Lab generates in their research on understanding how the built environment affects inhabitants. 

"We look forward to strengthening our work through the expertise that each alliance member brings," says Dr. Brent Bauer, medical director of the Well Living Lab and Mayo Clinic's Complementary and Integrative Medicine program. "Bringing alliance members together will advance our collective knowledge and ultimately benefit all industries that support the built environment by making the structures in which we live and work healthier." 

The Well Living Lab's world-class research approach leverages and expands upon many scientific areas, including the principles of the International WELL Building Institute's WELL Building Standard (WELL), which focuses on seven categories relevant to indoor health - air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind. WELL is third-party certified through Green Business Certification Inc. 

"We are excited to be joined by leading pioneers in real estate and other industries in our effort to help drive a research agenda that is centered around the effect that buildings have on the people inside these spaces. We spend nearly 90 percent of our time indoors, and Hines' commitment to the research behind these principles is an exceptional demonstration of leadership," said Rick Fedrizzi, IWBI Chairman and CEO. 

The Well Living Lab Alliance aims to partner with companies that want to help generate new knowledge, and interact with Lab experts from a wide range of scientific, medical and technical backgrounds. A listing of Alliance Members can be found on www.welllivinglab.com. View a narrated tour of the Well Living Lab here.