New York/Shanghai - Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - The Center for Active Design (CfAD) and GIGA循绿 have today announced an alignment between the RESET Standard and the Fitwel Certification System. Under this alignment, projects using the RESET Air certification can also receive credit towards Fitwel certification, expanding both systems’ impact in communities around the world.  Fitwel is the leading global health certification, providing over 55 cost-effective and evidence-based design and operational strategies for optimizing buildings to promote health. RESET Air is a performance-based building standard that continuously measures indoor air quality (IAQ), tracks the health level of materials and serves as a reference for other green building programs and international organizations alike. 

According to the World Health Organization “air quality is one of the most pernicious threats facing global public health today. Addressing it starts with good data and better monitoring.” Understanding this critical threat and recognizing RESET’s rigor in addressing air quality, Fitwel recently adopted the RESET Air certification as a pathway to compliance for its air quality strategy. The partnership is a natural synchronization of two programs designed to prioritize occupant health, through high standards for indoor air quality. 

“RESET is a groundbreaking standard and leading the way for using real-time data to improve the places where we work, live, and play,” said Joanna Frank, President & CEO, CfAD. “We are excited to move the needle on air quality standards by aligning with RESET’s innovative data collection methodology and further integrating it within Fitwel’s technological capabilities in 2018.” 

A comprehensive IAQ policy can identify the areas for improvement in air quality and provide benchmarks to ensure that quality remains high over time. Indoor air quality impacts the following Fitwel health impact categories: reduces morbidity and absenteeism, supports social equity for vulnerable populations, and instils feelings of well-being. 

“Fitwel is empowering everybody to engage in the healthy building movement, and RESET is proud to serve as the standard for measuring on-going air quality data and communicating how it affects occupant health,” said Raefer Wallis, CEO, RESET. 

RESET Air certification rethinks and simplifies IAQ project certification by documenting, communicating, and certifying indoor air quality in real-time. Currently, there are 84 RESET Air projects representing over 12 million square feet of real estate in 6 different countries. The Fitwel Certification System was created over a five-year period as a joint initiative led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the General Services Administration, with its ongoing operations and development led by the CfAD. After just launching to the private sector in March 2017, Fitwel already has a global imprint, impacting more than 250,000 building occupants with over 380 registered and certified projects.

About Fitwel & the Center for Active Design

Named one of Fast Company's 2017 Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Social Good, Fitwel is the premiere global health certification system for optimizing building design and operations. Generated by expert analysis of over 3,000 academic research studies, Fitwel is implementing a vision for a healthier future where all buildings and communities are enhanced to strengthen health and wellbeing. Fitwel was created as a joint initiative led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention d together with the General Services Administration. The Center for Active Design, an international non-profit that uses design to foster healthy and engaged communities was awarded the exclusive operating license in 2016 with the mandate to expand Fitwel globally to the private sector. Twitter: @active_design + @fitwel

Contact: Symphony Chau, symphony.chau@centerforactivedesign.org, Center for Active Design

About RESET & GIGA循绿

GIGA is an independent third party which combines the development of building standards with cloud software, enabling healthy buildings to be affordable and scalable. GIGA has prioritized health as the most effective way of regenerating the triple top-line since 2009: when people are healthy, so are the ecology and the economy. GIGA develops and administers RESET, a technology driven standard and certification program for healthy buildings.
www.giga.build
www.reset.build 
Contact: Nitin Dani, nitin@reset.build, RESET