Jersey City Promotes Safer, Healthier Buildings for Residents & Employees With WELL Health-Safety Rating
1st in New Jersey & 2nd in the US to Achieve WELL Rating Across its Municipal Buildings
JERSEY CITY and NEW YORK, March 21, 2023 /3BL Media/ - Jersey City Mayor Steven M. Fulop and the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the world’s leading organization advancing healthy buildings and healthy organizations, announced today that Jersey City has become the first city in New Jersey, and second in the country, to earn the WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management across a portfolio of six municipal buildings, including its most visited buildings such as City Hall, Building of Public Works, Office of Emergency Management and Municipal Courts. The achievement signals Jersey City’s strong commitment to promoting a safer and healthier environment for its employees, residents, and all those who visit.
“Quite simply, this represents a critical health investment in our people, our city, and our future,” said Mayor Fulop. “We all spend about 90% of our lives inside buildings, so it’s important we take action to ensure our municipal buildings are helping safeguard our health and supporting our well-being. Earning this WELL rating is the latest important step towards our broader efforts in making Jersey City the healthiest and safest city possible, and our work today will positively impact our residents for decades to come.”
In order for Jersey City to achieve the WELL Health-Safety Rating, IWBI, through third-party experts, has verified that the policies and protocols for all of these buildings met the rating’s requirements for supporting the long-term health and safety needs of all those inside. This includes holistic aspects of health from improved airflow, hygienic hand washing practices, reduction in hand contact of high-touch surfaces, effective cleaning protocols, robust emergency preparedness and response, advanced stakeholders’ engagement, and more.
“We extend our congratulations to Jersey City, the first city in the state and second in the nation to achieve the WELL Health-Safety Rating across a portfolio of municipal buildings,” said Jason Hartke, Executive Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at IWBI. “Our public buildings have a special obligation to be out in front when it comes to health leadership and deploying evidence-based interventions that support our physical and mental health. Thanks to Mayor Fulop, Jersey City is doing just that. By leading by example, we know Jersey City will inspire other cities and states across the country, and grow the movement for people-first places.”
Since the early days of the pandemic, mayors have shown strong leadership to support the role of healthy buildings. In 2020, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) passed a healthy building policy resolution focused on prioritizing indoor health and taking action to deploy a ‘people-first’ approach to city buildings, encouraging cities to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic by advancing integrated healthy building solutions, such as the WELL Health-Safety Rating. The following year, another USCM resolution passed focused on ramping up healthy building efforts to help strengthen and fortify cities in the face of COVID-19 or future public health threats. Last year, Miami became the first city in the nation to achieve the WELL Health-Safety Rating across a large part of its municipal building portfolio.
“This is city leadership at its finest. We congratulate Jersey City for its pioneering leadership by using WELL to deliver on the promise of healthier buildings,” said Paul Scialla, Founder of IWBI. “I know other cities are watching closely. They’ll want to emulate what Mayor Fulop is doing — supporting the health and safety of workers and residents in Jersey City, while also helping fortify the city in the face of potential future health threats.”
The WELL Health-Safety Rating is an evidence-based, third-party verified rating for all new and existing building and space types, advancing human health and well-being through science-backed policies and procedures. From Yankee Stadium and the Empire State Building to JPMorgan Chase & Co. global retail locations to the entire portfolios of companies like T-Mobile and Planet Fitness, facilities around the world are prioritizing the health and safety of their staff, visitors, and stakeholders with the help of the WELL Health-Safety Rating. Today, WELL offerings, including the WELL Health-Safety Rating, are being used across 4.6 billion square feet of space, by 25% of the Fortune 500 and in 125 counties.
About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the world’s leading organization focused on deploying people-first places to advance a global culture of health. IWBI mobilizes its community through the administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL) and WELL ratings and certifications, management of the WELL AP credential, the pursuit of applicable research, the development of educational resources and advocacy for policies that promote health and well-being everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.
International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL Portfolio, WELL Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rating, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Equity, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Performance Rating, Works with WELL, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.
Media Contact:
Kimberly Scalcione at KScalcione@jcnj.org
media@wellcertified.com
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