Since it was first researched as a real estate trend roughly four years ago, the definition of “wellness” when it comes to built spaces — public and private — has been a bit, well, squishy. Jamie Gold, CKD, CAPS, MCCWC, frequent Forbes contributor, design consultant, and author of "Wellness by Design: A Room-by-Room Guide to Optimizing Your Home for Health, Fitness and Happiness" (Simon & Schuster/Tiller Press, 2020) says, “I suspect there are as many definitions of wellness as there are professionals practicing in the field. In the context of wellness in buildings, I define this as creating spaces that support the health, safety, and well-being of their occupants.”
While that answer seems simple enough, a quick dig into everything those three attributes might cover reveals dozens upon dozens of technologies that could fit into a “wellness” solution. Gold says, “There are so many great innovations in this area, and new ones emerge all the time. Some I’ve been keeping my eye on include: human-centric lighting, air and water quality management, leak detection, smart window coverings, and voice control, among others.” What Gold’s speaking about is part of a bigger picture, one that adds up to an incredibly broad definition.
“Wellness also means protecting your privacy and data when your home is connected to the Internet.”
– Jamie Gold, author of “Wellness by Design”
Tunable Lighting, Air Quality — and Stress Reducers
Lighting and shading solutions and indoor air quality top a lot of lists of “wellness” solutions, especially given the fact the modern human spends 90% of their time indoors.. This isn’t ideal for a species that spent several thousand years outside, evolving in an environment of fresh air and natural light. “Tunable lighting really is one of the most attractive features in any wellness solution — it's something you can really see and play with and it's definitely a great selling item,” says Bassel Hashem, product leader at Delos, a Crestron partner in this segment. However, Hashem notes that, “Times are changing with COVID over the past year and a half — obviously, air quality has become paramount, as you can imagine.” This is where the “rubber meets the road” with one aspect of the Crestron and Delos partnership; namely, the Delos® Wellness extension for Crestron Home™ Platform.
Hashem explains how the devices work in concert with one another: “The setup we put into a home, for example, is a hub and a number of Delos Air Quality Sensors. It’s all integrated with the Crestron Home™ system — including, for example, the Horizon® thermostat, since that will control the air handling units. A user can see what’s happening, room-by-room, in real-time. When a sensor picks up a pollutant —over the threshold that we've researched and defined — that will communicate with the Crestron Home thermostat to turn on the air handling units and specific ways to remediate and clean the air.”
A solution such as this isn’t just good for the lungs — there are added benefits here, too. Jamie Gold is quick to include lessening stress as an advantage. “I was asked by a trade magazine what would surprise people most to find in my book and I responded 'smart home technology,’” she says. “Technology, like leak detection and air and water quality monitoring and management can certainly contribute to peace of mind.” Preserving that peace extends to security, too — and not just physical elements such as access control. “Wellness also means protecting your privacy and data when your home is connected to the Internet,” says Gold.
“Two big wellness challenges that have been exposed by this pandemic are 1) room ventilation, and 2) the need for nature.”
– Jamie Gold
Biophilia: The Need for Nature
Gold speaks to a lot of experts in researching her work, and she’s been tracking how our reckoning with COVID has impacted the way we live and work. “Two big wellness challenges that have been exposed by this pandemic are 1) room ventilation, which can be the difference between high and low virus transmission risk, and 2) the need for nature,” says Gold. “Early on in the pandemic, outdoor spaces like beaches, parks, and mountain trails were closed for weeks or months by public health officials to avoid crowding. Those individuals fortunate enough to have their own yards, balconies or gardens could safely enjoy nature, which has both physical and mental health benefits.”
That “need for nature” has a very specific name. “It’s called ‘biophilia,’” says Regina Vaicekonyte, vice president of health sciences at Delos Labs, the research and development arm of the firm. “It’s the innate drive to be connected with nature, which could be everything from a ‘living wall’ (literally, a wall designed to be covered in plant life) to a window with a view of a natural scene. It could be natural finishes and furnishings, the look of wood, even artwork.” These types of stimuli have been shown to improve worker productivity and lessen stress, and the opportunities to install systems that mimic natural events or surroundings are abundant.
Ultimately, there’s a “smart” solution for nearly every aspect of what could come under the umbrella term of wellness — from touchless doors to tunable lighting, from leak detection that prevents mold from ever getting a foothold in a building to sound absorption and diffusion options that keep a home or workspace’s audio system from sounding shrill or fatiguing. From system design to proper installation, almost every one of these solutions demands the expertise of a skilled technology integrator.
Learn more about Crestron Home’s wellness solutions here.