Creating Inviting Indoor Environments: Owner Perspectives
Experiencing the pandemic increased our awareness for the need of commercial buildings to provide both safe and inviting indoor environments. It is critical to understand what owners and tenants are looking for in the design of their spaces. This course will explore a range of client perspectives on how to create better built environments, not only for new construction but also for renovation and retrofit projects. This presentation will provide short- and long-term strategies that tenants and owners are considering for designing and operating facilities that contribute to long-term occupant health and well-being.
Presenters: Anne P. Jennings, P.E., Senior Commercial Segment Manager, Healthy Spaces at Armstrong World Industries; Yana Ronin, MBA, NCIDQ, LEED® AP
Date: Thursday, December 9, 2021
Time: 1:00 PM EST
A Holistic and Comprehensive Approach to Wellness
The mental, physical, economic, and social impact of COVID-19 globally is unprecedented and has ignited a multi-disciplinary conversation about well-being. Important in this conversation is that experiences over the last year have resulted in greater awareness and understanding of critical issues related to the built environment and human health and well-being. Identifying and communicating effective strategies that support and promote health and well-being is vital to the profession, the public, and policy makers. This course is based on a 2021 ASID Impact Review addressing Health and Well-Being Insights. The course format is a panel discussion of design professionals who have addressed these topics from both a theoretical and practical vantage point.
Moderator: Peter J. Arsenault, FAIA, NCARB, LEED® AP
Presenters: Jackie Wheat, RID, Principal, Design + Brand; Stuart Harris, AIA, NCARB, LEED® ID+C; Linda Sorrento, MA, FASID, LEED® Fellow
Date: Thursday, December 9, 2021
Time: 2:30 PM EST
Make Waves: Designing Spaces for Comfort and Well-Being
Julian Treasure examines a renewed focus on indoor environmental quality – how it helps us to design, build, and renovate better spaces where people can connect, collaborate, and concentrate. Pre-pandemic we understood how much acoustics, lighting design, and sustainability contribute to our well-being. Now, more and more specifiers are thinking of interior spaces as ecosystems made up of a wider variety of elements working together to form healthier built environments for people. Join us to learn more about how human-centered, holistically designed interiors can improve occupants’ quality of life in commercial spaces.
Presenter: Julian Treasure, Chairman of The Sound Agency
Date: Thursday, December 16, 2021
Time: 12:00 PM EST
Back to the Office: Making the Workspace Healthy and Appealing
The AWI Living Lab is a dynamic pilot space at Armstrong’s campus in Lancaster, PA designed to beta test new health-focused solutions and emerging innovations in workplace design. The lab is an activity-based work environment, which means it provides a range of spaces to comfortably accommodate a variety of needs throughout the day. Here, people can work on the move, taking advantage of technology to stay connected — even in outside settings — and use the assortment of team-oriented rooms and informal open spaces for collaboration, or enclosed rooms for focus work. This is simultaneously a proving ground for new products, a place to test drive mock-ups, and a setting in which to connect with customers in unique ways. AWI products adorn the lab, creating an indoor environment that reflects the outdoors. Specialty ceilings with open suspension systems, for instance, have translucent panels with circadian lighting emulating real sunlight. The strategy emphasizes other biophilic design elements such as outdoor views, warm wood tones, and deep earthy greens evoking growth, comfort, and wellbeing. Specific adaptations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with AWI's commitment to create the healthiest work environments possible, include the exploratory use of touchless and antimicrobial surfaces, as well as mineral fiber ceilings with concealed UV air purification. Building upon a 25-year relationship, Gensler and AWI's shared mission of improving the human experience through design has culminated in a critical, yet hopeful, moment of transformation. The Living Lab is an actively evolving embodiment of that mission.
Presenters: Ehren Gaag, AIA, LEED® AP, Design Director, Principal, Gensler; Alexandra Waltemyer, Sr. Manager of Strategic Initiatives, Armstrong World Industries; Linda Pileggi, Design Director, Gensler
Date: Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Time: 2:00 PM EST
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