Upon Arrival | Events & Incentives with Adelaine Ng

Ep 45: How healthy buildings can improve happiness and reverse chronic disease with Ken Fong

July 14, 2021 Season 1 Episode 45
Upon Arrival | Events & Incentives with Adelaine Ng
Ep 45: How healthy buildings can improve happiness and reverse chronic disease with Ken Fong
Show Notes

You've probably heard of sick building syndrome. But what if we could make our buildings healthier, improving staff happiness with an impact-to-bottomline outcome and even reverse incidence of chronic illness? It sounds a little too good to be true until we look at the science a little closer.  And it's even more important now in the era of COVID-19.

Ken Fong is an award-winning acoustics specialist and a health and wellness coach based in Australia. Passionate about amplifying the impact of people and organisations through public health, he leads the Healthy Buildings & Communities work at Arup Melbourne and is currently leveraging the Healthy Buildings Frameworks for the property sector.  Ken is also part of a COVID-19 task force for The International WELL Building Institute.

Quotes From Episode

“For a long time, we haven’t paid much attention to how our environment affects our personal health. When the sick building syndrome came to public consciousness, we realised the spaces that we occupy are making us sick around the chemicals being used in construction, the ventilation quality, lack of sunlight, poor acoustic design, or areas that didn’t foster social connections. Healthy buildings are our attempt to make spaces that promote better health in people.”

“Wellness is going to be a key theme moving forward in the post COVID-19 recovery phase, especially for the hospitality industry. Apart from all the traditional metrics on shifting customer satisfaction scores, you have to look after your own staff better. And how do you look after them? Provide them with better space, services, and programs that upshift their health, productivity, and happiness.”

-Ken Fong


Don’t miss:
- The connection between healthy buildings and public health outcomes
- How travel trade and hospitality businesses can benefit from healthy buildings
- The “90%” point of view that should matter for health and business
- Frameworks of a WELL building standard
- Health and wellness as a key marketing differentiator
- How our perception of sound affects our productivity
- How to incorporate sound mapping and circadian lighting to improve health
- Why investing in healthy buildings makes financial sense

Ken’s recommendations:
Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity
WELL Certified | International WELL Building Institute

Connect with Ken:
LinkedIn

Connect with Adelaine:
Email: uponarrivalpodcast@gmail.com