Manhattan, NY Active Design Advisors Inc. (Adai), an affiliate of the Center for Active Design (CfAD), the sole operator of Fitwel, formed a strategic capital investment led by RET Ventures, a real estate technology fund focused on building proptech companies for the multifamily industry. Additional investment comes from Kilroy Realty, a commercial real estate leader committed to sustainability and health & wellness.
RET’s investment comes from the RET Ventures ESG Fund (the Housing Impact Fund), which was raised primarily from multifamily owners, as ESG takes root in the multifamily sector.
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, demand for healthy buildings has never been higher and now the case for investing in them is even stronger. Adai’s strategic raise positions them as an industry partner across real estate asset classes. The raised capital will help Adai further drive current demand and dramatically increase the implementation of Fitwel’s evidenced-based, truly effective healthy building strategies—e.g. design attributes, amenities, and operational policies that boost tenant wellbeing—positively impacting human capital and real estate bottom lines across the global real estate sector. Additionally, Adai plans to enhance its tech platform for ease of use at an enterprise scale and increase its ability to generate benchmark data to underpin operational value creation. By advancing its technology, Adai will meet market demand for healthy buildings by providing the real estate industry with an on-ramp to implement practical strategies shown to be impactful by over 100 years of public health research.
With global ESG aligned assets on track to exceed $50 billion by 2025, third-party healthy building certifications will increasingly be relied upon as a viable framework for tracking and integrating health-related ESG metrics. Fitwel has seen steady growth in the number of certifications over the past five years, demonstrating growing awareness of the importance of healthy building practices to mitigate risk and respond to occupant demand. In 2021 alone, there was a 325% increase in the total number of Fitwel certifications, and a 288% increase in certified square feet since last year. Leading companies that have implemented Fitwel strategies include Boston Properties, Harrison St., Oracle, Nike, Gensler, and Meta. Adai’s continued investment and improvements in technology will keep Fitwel’s research-backed solutions current and adaptive to future market demands.
“We are witnessing a fundamental shift in demand as stakeholders increasingly consider the health and wellbeing of individuals inside their physical assets, which in turn drives market transformation,” said Joanna Frank, president and CEO of Adai. “This capital raise is essential to accelerating our ability to meet this increasing demand with data insights that unlock the value of promoting health across the real estate sector.”
“On behalf of our Housing Impact Fund we are committed to pursuing technologies that enhance building health and sustainability, and Fitwel’s ability to improve the resident and tenant experience in commercial and multifamily properties makes this an ideal investment for us,” said Christopher Yip, partner at RET Ventures. “As a certification system developed with the CDC, the Fitwel Platform has the rigorous scientific backing to deliver true value to building owners, whose tenants are increasingly prioritizing health as an amenity. With Fitwel’s growing suite of platform solutions giving owner-operators additional insight into both building performance and occupant health and wellbeing, we expect Fitwel to become an important tool for the CRE sector.”
“As a demonstrated leader in sustainable commercial real estate, we will continue to bring an ambitious approach to health and wellness in building design and operation. We expect this to become a staple for best-in-class commercial buildings. Kilroy is proud to support Adai as they work towards scaling up the use and recognition of the Fitwel Platform,” said Sarah King, senior vice president of sustainability at Kilroy Realty.
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