
The BE+ Health and Wellness Community brings together architects, designers, construction managers, and sustainability professionals to discuss issues related to healthy buildings.
Reach out to wellness@builtenvironmentplus.org with any inquiries, questions, or concerns.
Topics & Speakers
November 2023 - PFAS + Water
Topic description and featured experts TBA.
September 2023 - PFAS in the Built Environment - Informative Event
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals that don’t break down in the environment and can harm our health. This session focuses on raising awareness of PFAS in the built environment, looking at all stages: the overarching science, manufacturing, introduction into building, presence in turf fields, environmental effects in drinking water, and end of life in deconstruction. The conversation will include multiple speakers from a variety of backgrounds, bringing more attention to the issues surrounding PFAS.
Learn more and register: https://builtenvironmentplus.org/event/health-wellness-pfas-in-the-built-environment-informative-event/
May 2023 - Induction Stoves in Housing, Health Impacts of Gas in Buildings
Topic description and Subject Matter Experts TBA
March 2023 - Creating Healthy Environments: Work and Academic Spaces
How do we create healthy environments to both encourage in-person collaboration in offices and universities and to adapt to meet remote and hybrid needs?
There has been a shift in the ways we work and collaborate. Policies and design changes can be implemented to help bring people back to the office/academic spaces while embracing flexibility. How can health and wellness strategies from rating systems like WELL and Fitwel adapt to this new hybrid work environment?
Subject Matter Experts:
Jeff Hyman, Chief Sustainability Officer | Green Hub Sustainability Agents LLC
Dan Schnitzer, Program Manager for Sustainability | Red Hat
January 2023 - Intersection of Light and Wellbeing
Lighting has a direct influence on the well-being of its inhabitants. This roundtable aims to hear from experts in the field about what they believe to be the benefits and importance of lighting and how it affects us. Topics could range from electric lighting and daylighting, circadian rhythm, color temperature, quality of light, and glare control. This is an interactive discussion and encourages everyone to participate and share things they may be struggling with, as well as success stories.
Featured Speakers:
Chad Groshart | Lighting Design Director at Atelier Ten
Josh Feinstein | Co-Founder and Principal at Sladen Feinstein Integrated Lighting
Jake Wayne | Associate Lighting at Arup
2022
November – Biophilia
September – Intersections with Passive House
July – Affordable Housing
May – Existing Building Retrofit
March – Owner’s Perspective
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Develops and owns extensive life sciences properties throughout the Greater Boston region. They cater to a demanding life science sector that demands Class A space. Health and Wellness is one of the important aspects of these developments.
Rick Malmstrom is the Executive Director – Sustainability Operations at Alexandria, and will talk about their approach to delivering healthy buildings.
Featured Leaders:
Rick Malmstrom | Executive Director, Sustainability Operations at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
January – Reflection and Year Ahead
2021
December – ???? Bright Ideas in Lighting
Lighting, both natural and manufactured, is essential to human health and wellness. The roundtable speakers will share their work in the field, with a discussion of the whole life cycle impacts of lighting, as well as the idea of “perception……” Please join us to learn, and to share your ideas and experiences in the realm of light
Featuring Lighting Leaders:
Alexandra Gadawski AIA, LEED AP BD+C | WELL AP – Architect / Sustainability leader at HMFH Architects
Keith Yancey IALD, AIA, LC, P.E. | Principal at Lam Partners
Melissa Mattes LC, LFA, | Senior Lighting Designer at Sladen Feinstein Integrated Lighting Inc.
November – Big Wins and Challenges in Building Rating Certifications
More info to come – Presentations of built projects by local leaders discussing the successes and challenges when using various rating systems to drive health and wellness in the finished design.
September – Member Input & Planning Meeting
August – Materials Universe
The products we use to construct our buildings and create engaging interior spaces are expected to do more than serve a function or aesthetic. Today’s materials are being asked to have healthier ingredients, lower embodied carbon and promote circularity, and, if they’re really well conceived, address inequities and injustice throughout their supply chains.
Building and product certifications, as well as commitments like the 2030 Challenge or AIA Material’s Pledge provide us with frameworks for setting materials goals. Research continues to evolve to support, or even challenge, the use of certain materials. It’s a lot to stay on top of given that product selection is likely only one facet of our work.
Jack Dinning of Brightworks Sustainability, and a materials consultant to Harvard’s Office of Sustainability, has been regularly mapping the building products ecosystem, and is looking to engage practitioners at all levels of experience to share information and strategies for pursuing optimized materials goals.
Note: Attendees will get access to a Miro board prior to the session that will be the focus of the collaborative discussion and once complete, can serve as a resource for accelerating the work of optimized materials.
Community Stewards
Community Leadership

Carrie Havey
Co-Chair
Principal at The Green Engineer

Lindsay Bach
Co-Chair
Interior Designer NCIDQ, LEEP AP ID+C at PCA Design

Rebecca Rahmlow
Board Liaison
Senior Associate and Sustainability Consultant, Thornton Tomasetti

Jennifer Taranto
Board Liaison
Vice President of Sustainability at STO Building Group

Rebecca Schofield
Board Liaison
Developer at Pennrose
Resources:
Collaborate with us to navigate the complex healthy-materials universe in the building industry.
Catch up by reviewing the August 2021 roundtable recording below, and visit the Materials Universe Miro. Tell us where you are from, check out all the resources, and we invite you to add to this board too!