A senior leader at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), Dr. Whitney Austin Gray plays a crucial role in researching and promoting ways to make buildings and communities healthier and more sustainable for everyone, everywhere. She’s been instrumental in creating educational programs and resources focused on the WELL Building Standard, which aims to enhance public health through better building design and operations.
Before joining IWBI, Dr. Gray worked at Cannon Design, a global firm specializing in healthcare design, where she led research initiatives. She also has experience in building science research at the MedStar Institute for Innovation and holds teaching positions at Georgetown University. She is a global speaker and expert advisor, having visited 85 countries in her tenure. She is a sought-after speaker for universities and conferences where she focuses on illuminating the intersection of public health and design.
Dr. Gray showed interest in the intersection of public health and design early in her career, motivating her to pursue a path where she could integrate both fields. While traditional public health work tends to focus on identifying and tackling health problems, design offers a proactive approach to creating environments that promote well-being.
She highlights the difference in perspective between public health and design, emphasizing how design can prevent health issues by creating supportive environments from the start. For instance, instead of treating asthma with medication, design places that reduce asthma triggers with improved air quality, effective cleaning materials, and safer materials and finishes.
Dr. Gray also points out how design influences behavior, mentioning strategies like designing spaces to discourage smoking. By making smoking areas less accessible or appealing, design can help reduce harmful behaviors without regulations or bans. “Make the healthy choice the easy choice and the unhealthy choice the hard choice,” Gray adds.
Dr. Gray’s journey serves as a testament to the power of interdisciplinary collaboration and the transformative impact of applying research-driven approaches to create healthier built environments. She emphasizes the need for continued dialogue and collaboration across disciplines to address complex challenges and promote human health and well-being in the built environment.
Bridging Research and Practice for Healthy Built Environments
Dr. Gray’s journey into her role as Senior Vice President at IWBI (International WELL Building Institute) has been marked by a passion for bridging the gap between research and practice in building design and operations. She has played a pivotal role in translating research findings into actionable strategies that promote health and well-being in the built environment.
Dr. Gray acknowledges the complexity of research in building health and well-being, which encompasses various body systems and disciplines ranging from public health and medicine to engineering, architecture, and sustainability. Her approach involves using language as a tool to connect people across different disciplines and stages of projects, ensuring that research findings are effectively communicated and applied in real-world settings.
One of Dr. Gray’s significant achievements is her contribution to the development of the WELL Accredited Professional (WELL AP) program, which is a credential for professionals who demonstrate expertise in designing and operating healthy buildings. She also led the creation of the WELL Faculty program, which is a global network of individuals committed to inspiring others on the value of people first places through robust education, speaking engagements and training, and led the development of IWBI’s Global Research Agenda on human health, well-being, and the built environment.
Additionally, Dr. Gray has been instrumental in hosting a successful webcast series that explore topics outlined in the Global Research Agenda, drawing audiences of over a thousand people. Her efforts to bridge the gap between research and practice have been praised by the American Society of Interior Designers, which recognized her as an Honorary Fellow, highlighting the growing importance of integrating public health principles into design practices.
Inspiring Global Impact
Dr. Gray’s insights into the global impact of her work at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) are truly inspiring. The scale of IWBI’s efforts is evident in the impressive numbers they have achieved, from the number of WELL Accredited Professionals to the square footage of committed projects across various countries.
IWBI’s emphasis on the importance of people in driving this movement resonates deeply. It’s not just about the physical structures but about the individuals who inhabit and benefit from these healthy spaces. By focusing on people, they’re shifting the narrative from merely completing projects to genuinely improving lives.
Moreover, the recognition of the interdisciplinary nature of this work is crucial. By bridging the gap between fields like public health and design, her work is helping pioneer a holistic approach to creating healthier and more sustainable environments. This collaboration is essential for tackling complex challenges and achieving meaningful outcomes.
The field of building health and sustainability has greatly evolved in the last 20 years. One of the biggest challenges has been working across disciplines to build the movement. Early in Gray’s tenure, she attended the Johns Hopkins University where she focused on research in public health. That led to her PhD at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health years later where she was the first to publish a dissertation on sustainable building design. She then went on to be the first public health professional to achieve her LEED AP. These achievements were based on Gray’s interest in connecting the fields of sustainable design and health more broadly.
Dr. Gray’s dedication to leveraging research, education, and collaboration to create healthier built environments is commendable. Her vision for a future where health and well-being are integral to design practices is both ambitious and achievable, thanks to her role to grow the movement.
Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Healthier Building Environments
Dr. Gray’s experience in fostering collaborations between different disciplines, especially in the context of improving building environments for health, is incredibly insightful. Her journey, from co-founding the Health in Buildings Roundtable at the National Institutes of Health to her involvement in industry and academic committees and organizations, including the American Society of Interior Designers, the American Institute of Architects, Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures, and the Green Building Advisory Council, highlights the importance of interdisciplinary cooperation in addressing complex challenges.
By bringing together experts from diverse fields like public health, design, and engineering, Dr. Gray and her colleagues have created spaces where individuals can share knowledge, exchange ideas, and work towards common goals. This collaborative approach is essential for advancing research, developing innovative solutions, and implementing effective policies to create healthier built environments.
Her emphasis on communication, curiosity, and active listening underscores the importance of humility and openness in collaborative efforts. Instead of focusing solely on individual expertise, she advocates for a collective approach that values diverse perspectives and encourages continuous learning and growth.
Additionally, Dr. Gray’s recognition of the urgent need to address indoor environmental quality, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlights the critical role of her work. By advocating for higher standards and raising awareness about the impact of indoor spaces on health and well-being, she is driving meaningful change and paving the way for healthier living and working environments for generations to come. Dr. Gray asserts, “We are coming onto the 50 year mark since we first coined the medical term “Sick Building Syndrome.” I hope I see the day that we don’t have to use the term “healthy buildings” because it is assumed that ALL buildings can protect us and keep us safe. Until then, we have some hard work to do.”
Blueprint for Change
Dr. Gray’s breakdown of the steps needed to drive change towards healthier living and working environments is comprehensive and insightful. Let’s delve into each point she has raised:
Making it Accessible and Real: Dr. Gray emphasizes the importance of connecting the concept of healthier spaces to people’s personal lives. By relating it to her loved ones’ well-being, she makes the idea more tangible and relevant to individuals. An early moniker Gray developed was “We are WELL.” This is often used as a way of relating to the International WELL Building Institute that puts the emphasis on how individuals, when working together, can build well-being for all. As a new mother, she deeply identifies with the personal stories of parents in the workplace and the need to advocate for women’s health more broadly. As such she has been featured in the media on topics related to lactation rooms, maternity and paternity policies, and more broadly, how to build inclusive spaces for all through equity in the workplace.
Activating Change: She highlights the role of architects, engineers, designers, and urban planners in breaking down physical barriers and designing spaces that promote health and well-being. By encouraging more people to participate in advocating for healthier environments, Gray aims to translate education into actionable change.
Operationalizing, Advocating, and Maintaining: Dr. Gray emphasizes the importance of not just initiating change but also ensuring its long-term sustainability. This involves not only building new structures but also maintaining them in a way that maximizes their benefits to society over the lifespan of the building. She underscores the significance of materials, structural design, and ongoing advocacy in this process.
Investing in Health: Finally, Dr. Gray acknowledges the practical aspect of implementing these changes—the financial aspect. Securing funding and resources is crucial for realizing the vision of healthier built environments on a large scale. This recognition underscores the need to demonstrate a likely return on investment in order to secure the financial support needed to drive meaningful change in this area.
Dr. Gray’s approach encompasses education, empowerment, advocacy, and financial considerations, providing a comprehensive framework for advancing the cause of healthier building environments.
Insights on Promoting Healthy Building Environments
Gray astutely points out that the perception of costliness often hinders progress towards healthier building environments. However, she argues that this perspective neglects to consider the potential return on investment and the various tools available for proactive decision-making.
Utilizing Tools Proactively: Gray suggests leveraging tools like financial modeling or pro-formas commonly used in the real estate market to assess the financial viability of healthier building practices. By incorporating these tools, stakeholders can make more informed decisions about investments in building projects.
Considering HR and Talent Metrics: She emphasizes the importance of looking beyond traditional metrics of growth and profit to consider factors like recruitment, retention, and employee engagement. Creating healthier environments can contribute to a more engaged and productive workforce, leading to bottom-line savings.
Emphasizing ESG Reporting: Gray highlights the value of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting as a means to demonstrate transparency and accountability to shareholders, stakeholders, and the broader community. This can also help companies identify material risks and opportunities related to health and well-being in their operations.
The Business Case as an Opportunity: Despite the challenges associated with building the business case for healthier environments, Gray sees it as a significant opportunity. She believes that addressing this challenge can bring together diverse disciplines, foster common language, and stimulate innovative approaches to addressing health-related issues in building design and management.
Gray underscores the importance of reframing the conversation by showing how healthier building practices pay back and generate tremendous economic benefits — impacts that improve various aspects of business operations and community well-being.
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