UL Announces First UL Verified Healthy Buildings Mark Achieved by Irvine Company

UL is pleased to announce that Irvine Company, a developer and manager of best-in-class real state, is the first to achieve the UL Verified Healthy Buildings Mark for Indoor Air for 25 million square feet of office space in regions including Orange County, CA, San Diego, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Chicago.

UL introduced this program to meet the rapidly growing demand for buildings that prioritize health and wellness of occupants.  The UL Verified Healthy Buildings Program enables building owners to communicate their commitment to maintaining healthy buildings through assessments of building indoor air, water or environmental quality through testing and verification of factors such as air, water, hygiene, light and acoustics. The criteria in UL’s program are aligned to programs like LEED, BREAM and Fitwel. The UL Verified Healthy Buildings Mark enables building owners to report their efforts to a growing contingent of stakeholders including investors, tenants, government agencies and consumers.

Businesses are also realizing the financial benefits of assessing good indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in their workplaces. Indoor spaces that support health and wellness drive tenant and employee satisfaction and help mitigate risk. As an example, an investment of $1 in improved indoor air quality has the potential to return from $9 to $14 in benefits including reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, and reduced healthcare expenses to name a few.

With the COVID-19 pandemic raising awareness of the importance of IEQ, occupants are more concerned about safety than ever. According to a survey from Aeroseal LLC and Quartr, 64% of employees are worried about their health and safety when returning to work.

As a result, a growing number of real estate providers and the companies that lease from them are prioritizing health and wellness in indoor spaces. However, it can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of IEQ measures. This is the goal behind the UL Verified Healthy Buildings Program.

“UL congratulates Irvine Company on being the first to earn UL’s Verified Healthy Buildings Mark for Indoor Air for their commercial office portfolio,” said Jennifer Scanlon, president and CEO of UL Inc. “Their bold action demonstrates a commitment to putting the health and well-being of building occupants first, and we’re pleased they are putting their trust in UL to deliver on that promise.”

With the pandemic changing how the health of buildings is prioritized, UL will continue to harness its scientific expertise to help owners and occupants of office buildings, retail locations and hospitality venues better understand and communicate their IEQ efforts. To learn more about the program, visit https://www.UL.com/services/verified-healthy-building.