The JCV & Associates Headquarters (JCVA) in Avire Tower, Quezon City, Philippines, has achieved IMMUNE Building Standard™ - 4 stars - Powerful. Healthy by Design Building Institute awarded the IMMUNE™ Powerful certificate and plaque to the JCVA team in a virtual ceremony.

“Being IMMUNE Powerful means being resilient against the challenges of the future. At JCVA, we seek to be at the forefront of the growing IMMUNE-certified community in the Philippines.” said Jason C. Valderrama, President & CEO, JCV & Associates.

The JCVA office, located in Avire Tower, has implemented IMMUNE™ measures throughout the entire office space, including the enclosed rooms - conference rooms, meeting rooms, as well as open space areas. The measures were implemented from the start of occupancy, in November 2020, and further strengthened throughout the course of the global pandemic. 

We are witnessing a new era of both great potential and grave perils to humankind.

Pandemics shape world history and provide anchors over time. We have experienced this recently with COVID-19 starting in 2020. Pandemics also question our social and behavioural norms, the role of expertise, and the sustainability of our material foundations.

Cities are tremendous economic engines for society. More than 80% of global GDP is generated in cities, and if managed properly, urbanisation can foster sustainable growth through increased productivity and innovation. Today approximately 56% of the world's population (4.5 billion inhabitants) live in cities, with urban populations expected to more than double from today's levels by 2050.

Overall, the pandemic has exposed many weaknesses, and it is up to employers to take action in order to rebuild trust and satisfaction among their employees. At Genesis Property, for example, we developed and launched IMMUNE Building Standard™, a blueprint for the health threats in the built environment. By addressing the challenges of the post-pandemic world, employers can create a more positive and productive work environment for all.

School systems worldwide need to adopt a measured and proportionate response through resilience, re-enrolment, and recovery. Back in April 2020, as schools and offices were shut and people were experiencing social distancing, it was clear that our way of life would be affected on the long-term if we did not re-establish confidence. However, establishing trust with people worldwide needed a measured response and not a marketing campaign.

We immediately set to work, investing 1 million Euros into R&D to develop and deliver a scientific response to creating a safe indoor environment for people around the world to adopt quickly. This resulted in the Immune Building Standard™ (IMMUNE™), developed with an international team of experts in health, technology, architecture, constructions, engineering, and facility management, as a blueprint to improve the immunity of office buildings against health risks.

ATHENS -- The IMMUNE Building Standard, developed mid-pandemic to attenuate the effects of Covid-19, launched by Genesis Property, a leading member of the European Property Federation, which initially covered offices, industrial and residential assets, now has now extended to cover educational institutions, with the first being a school in Greece.

IMMUNE™ is based on a practical investment in a Healthy by Design System (HbDS),whichempowers building operators to verify and adjust the condition of the building to a healthy performance level, and thus providing occupants with the space and confidence for a healthy experience.

St. Catherine's British School has outstanding teaching and recreational facilities, including a 350-seat theatre, state-of the art science laboratories, a design technology Fablab and much more. Moreover, the classrooms are equipped with interactive smart board technology and Wi-Fi is available throughout the entire school.

“We are proud to receive this certification which emphasises a key priority to enabling a healthy environment for our whole community, especially our staff and students. It is our responsibility to create a greener setting and future for our future generations and this certification validates our vision and mission in action,” stated Stuart Smith, the CEO and headteacher of St. Catherine’s British School.

With a gross floor area of 25,876 sqm and 32 floors, a number of healthy building systems have been installed. The building has MERV 13 filtered fresh air that maintains CO2 levels at below 500 PPM, verified and continuously monitored by Air Quality Sensors. 

Menarco Tower為多次受贈獎之精品店，寫字樓（Boutique office)，座落在達訖市的文尼法壽環球市，該精品店寫字樓的業主為Menarco開發公司，並由該公司管理。該公司為本國最具有創新措施的房地產開發公司，Menarco Tower獲得5-starIMMUNE Building Standard™ certification for Shell & Core.

Menarco Tower has a gross floor area of 25,876 sqm and 32 floors, and outdoor activities are encouraged and recommended at the Pandan Terrace, there are also bicycle parking and shower areas. The entrances of Menarco Tower have disinfection systems, air barriers, mats, and disinfection stations. The restrooms are equipped with sensors for lights, faucets, and hand dryers.

The building has MERV 13 filtered fresh air that maintains CO2 levels at below 500 PPM, verified and continuously monitored by Air Quality Sensors. Moreover, the office building has a Green Cleaning Policy where only compliant chemicals, cleaning materials, and cleaning processes are being used. On top of that, all materials flowing into the building are evaluated from a sustainability perspective. 

“We are honored that Menarco Tower is Asia’s first recipient of the IMMUNE™ Resilient certification, the highest rating from the Healthy by Design Institute. This recognition certifies that our safe spaces are ready for present or future threats posed by Covid or any similar future events. Building better spaces that provide peace of mind for all, that is our ultimate goal”, said Carmen Jimenez-Ong, Founder & CEO, Menarco Development Corporation.

“We are very happy to have a strong partnership with Menarco Development Corporation in Asia and share the mission of creating healthy indoor spaces for our staff, our tenants and partners. At HDBI, we are very proud to demonstrate once again that IMMUNE™ is a serious proposition for any company that wants to be prepared for the health challenges of the future”, said Darren Allen, Director at Healthy by Design Building Institute.

“I want to congratulate the entire Menarco Development team for their authentic passion and positive energy put in the certification process. Achieving the IMMUNE 5 stars – Resilient for Shell & Core label demonstrates their team’s extraordinary strive for excellence, good practices, and respect for their business”, said Liviu Tudor, founder of Genesis Property and president of the European Property Federation.

IMMUNE Building Standard™ was developed by Genesis Property and launched to address health threats to the built environment caused by the pandemic event. The standard was globally adopted by companies around the world to strengthen their commitment in having healthier buildings for both the present and the future. The standard reached Asia in June and continues to gain recognition in the region.

Established in 1956 on the grounds of the British Embassy in Athens, St. Catherine’s teaches over 1,300 students, aged 3 to 18 years, from 54 nationalities. The school is a COBIS Executive Member (Council of British International Schools), an HMC School (Head) and an IBO World School (International Baccalaureate). 

Each IMMUNE™ certified building incorporates state-of-the-art technology, specialized equipment and dedicated staff such as an IMMUNE™ steward, to manage building operations and health metrics as recommended. The standard is based on a IMMUNE™ Assessment Rating Index comprising more than 130 recommended measures for implementation in buildings that include technical solutions for architectural engineering, technology and design.

MREIT Inc., the REIT company of Andrew Tan-led Megaworld, received  a “Powerful (4 stars) IMMUNE™ certification” from Healthy by Design Building Institute (HDBI) – the first-ever recognition of its kind in entire Asia, for two of its 14 buildings in its portfolio. Kevin Tan, president and CEO, MREIT Inc said the company hopes to make the certification the benchmark across all its properties. 

"Being the first IMMUNE building in Asia is another major step for the standard, and we are happy to contribute with our know-how in creating healthier workplaces for people all around the world. Megaworld has truly become trailblazers within this particular field," HDBI Director Dr. Darren Allen said.

Megaworld’s 1800 Eastwood Avenue and 1880 Eastwood Avenue office towers, its first-ever township development in Eastwood City, were awarded for being “healthy buildings of the future. "We take great pride in becoming the first-ever recipient of the IMMUNE Building Standard certifications in Asia. We hope to make this a benchmark across all the properties in our portfolio."

Designed in response to the new coronavirus diseases-19 pandemic and launched in 2020 by Genesis Property, the IMMUNE Building Standard aims to help mitigate the effects of pandemics and other bacteriological and toxicological health threats by creating and promoting healthy buildings of the future. MREIT’s certification was issued by Healthy by Design Building Institute (HDBI) to 1800 Eastwood Avenue and 1880 Eastwood Avenue office towers — both in Eastwood City in Libis.

“We take great pride in becoming the first-ever recipient of the IMMUNE Building Standard™ certifications in Asia. We hope to make this a benchmark across all the properties in our portfolio, and we look forward to accrediting all our assets in the future”, said Kevin L. Tan, President and CEO of MREIT Inc.

Entrances, exit areas and routes of the two buildings located in Eastwood City, Megaworld's first-ever township development, in the Manila metropolitan area, were re-configured and equipped with touchless systems and enhanced sanitation systems. The buildings now benefit from improved sanitation in areas such as the main entrance, lifts, and stairwells.

“MREIT needs to be recognized for their ingenuity and resilience in making their buildings a safer place for clients, partners and staff and in doing so, became a trailblazer in their field and in the region”, said Darren Allen, Director at Healthy by Design Building Institute.

All seven buildings of the new YUNITY Park, a new a campus for the work and lifestyle of the future, with a total leasable area of 75,000 square meters, including co-living and food hall areas, will be certified IMMUNE Building Standard™ – Resilient, 5 out of 5 stars.

Offices of the future will also include more and more health-oriented features and design ideas, many of them recommended in the IMMUNE Building Standard™ for healthier built environments. IMMUNE™ has been recently listed as an existing tool by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in IBOS - International Building Operation Standard, a new approach to measure and manage how buildings perform for people, through data.​

“We've come a long way since and we have leveraged relevant expertise in creating healthier built environments where people spend most of their time indoors be it at home or at work. Our track record with this innovative standard and Navana’s visionary approach led to the first IMMUNE certified residential building in the world, paving the way for our post-pandemic homes.”

An initiative by Genesis Property, a leading member of the European Property Federation and a renowned Class A office developer, the award was in recognition of Navana Property Group implementing the recommended measures of the IMMUNE standard across the built environment at One Palace Place to create a healthier living environment for residents.

Every IMMUNE certified building incorporates advanced technologies, specialised equipment, and dedicated personnel, an IMMUNE Steward, to manage the building’s operations and health parameters, as recommended in the standard.

Standards and certifications are likely to play a key part across residential and commercial sectors, reassuring tenants and landlords that their buildings are safe, and reassuring staff as they return to the office.

Measures include: aligning policies to the Immune standards at a corporate level, especially in areas such as business continuity, recovery and well-being; providing additional training to its onsite team and the dedicated Immune steward; increasing the cleaning frequency of high-touch and foot traffic areas.

Since its inception, the standard has been applied to office buildings, industrial complexes and now, residential structures, boosting its contribution to the resilience of a wide range of built environments against the health threats of today and beyond.

"Last year people probably spent more time at home than ever before, but while we’ve seen changes in the way offices, transport hubs and shops are managed to keep people safe, there’s been little discussion about what should happen in a multi-residential setting."

Located in the prestigious borough of Westminster, One Palace Place incorporates 35 private apartments with a 24/7 concierge for residents, alongside a 312-seat theatre, a 120-seat studio, as well as a restaurant and bar open to the wider public. 

"This is not about creating sterile spaces, but about making sensible design and management changes. IMMUNE™ certification shows our commitment as a professional property and asset manager to do everything we can to keep our customers healthy and well”

Navana Property Group successfully implemented a large majority of the 135 measures included in the IMMUNE™ Assessment Scoring Index, such as aligning its policies to the IMMUNE™ standards at a corporate level, especially in areas such as business continuity, recovery, and wellbeing or providing additional training to its onsite team and the dedicated IMMUNE™ Steward.

Any building owner or tenant can consult the list of measures and implement them - entirely or partially, as needed - in their workspace and follow the Assessment Scoring Index to independently evaluate the level of resilience of the assessed building against health threats.

“People have to feel more confident that the workplace will be safer for them than they will be at home,” Tudor says. “We already have green buildings, but we want to work towards healthy buildings as well.”

At Navana, we have been exploring how standards like IMMUNE, which was initially created for workplaces, can be deployed in residential schemes. This considers how smarter design through the use of different materials or building layouts can help reduce the spread of viruses.

The Healthy by Design Building Institute (HDBI) has awarded Navana Property Group IMMUNE Building Standard™ certification for One Palace Place, a luxury apartment building managed by the company in central London.  It is the first time that a residential asset has achieved certification.

“This is not about creating sterile spaces, but about making sensible design and management changes. IMMUNE certification shows our commitment as a professional property and asset manager to do everything we can to keep our customers healthy and well,” added Fitzgerald. 

The onsite team and dedicated IMMUNE™ steward benefited from additional training, PPE equipment for protection and intensified cleaning protocols in the staff welfare areas. Navana Property Group also aligned operational policies to the IMMUNE™ standard both at corporate level, as well as for residents, visitors and contractors, especially in areas like business continuity, recovery and wellbeing.

Predicting how long the working-from-home/hybrid working model will last is difficult, he said, but Tudor took a guess: “Hybrid working will stay for a while….maybe for two or three years after the pandemic.”

This is a standard developed in response to the pandemic, showing how to re-engineer and redesign business premises. The standard has been used for offices across the UK and continental Europe, including in Bucharest, Romania, at Building H3 in the West Gate Business District, fully occupied by Ericsson.