HDR Advances Health and Wellness Goals through Alliance with Delos

HDR has signed a strategic alliance agreement with Delos™, a wellness real estate technology firm, to advance health and wellness innovations and research in the built environment. The organizations have agreed to a robust program of applied research and further development of wellness design tools. Additionally, HDR and Delos are targeting two deep-dive research collaborations per year that focus on various aspects of wellness in HDR’s built work.

The HDR and Delos alliance aims to incorporate wellness evaluations into a three-dimensional design environment and identify synergies between HDR’s proprietary health and wellness design tool and Delos’ health and wellness real estate innovations.  Delos is the pioneer of the WELL Building Standard, which is administered by its subsidiary the International Well Building Institute (IWBI). HDR and Delos will collaborate to further develop a technology tool to assist real estate projects to incorporate wellness and sustainability solutions and strategies in design.

HDR’s proprietary tool analyzes multiple health and wellness metrics established from research supported by Delos’ expertise and experience, including access to daylight, acoustical impact on staff, access to views, likelihood of collaboration, active design standards and more. The aggregate of these data points compared and visualized in parallel with Delos’ research and offerings will result in more informed and confident business decisions that also improve the human condition.

“We’re excited to explore how our custom tools will introduce health and wellness outcomes into the design process as early as possible,” said Colin Rohlfing, Director of Sustainable Design & Energy Solutions for HDR. “This approach to design will integrate and elevate these elements in a robust way—allowing us to demonstrate meaningful design impacts within a 3D environment.”

Paul Scialla, Founder and CEO of Delos supportively commented “HDR, already deeply invested in research which seeks to codify the impacts of healthy building on occupant heath and performance, is an obvious and exciting partner for us.  We look forward to joining forces with their offices around the world to accelerate the adoption of healthy, well buildings.”

Rohlfing added that the agreement with Delos underscores HDR’s belief that sustainability is about changing values, culture and processes. It further strengthens the firm’s previous commmitments, including endorsing the Architecture 2030 Challenge to achieve dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and endorsing the use of the Health Product Declaration Open Standard, which requires manufacturers to adhere to transparency guidelines regarding the chemical composition of the products they supply.

About HDR

For more than a century, HDR has partnered with clients to shape communities and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Our expertise spans nearly 10,000 employees, in more than 200 locations around the world — and counting. Our engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services bring an impressive breadth of knowledge to every project. Our optimistic approach to finding innovative solutions defined our past and drives our future. More information is available at www.hdrinc.com.

About Delos
As the pioneer of Wellness Real Estate™, Delos is transforming our homes, offices, schools, and other indoor environments by placing health and wellness at the center of design and construction decisions. Delos formed the International WELL Building Institute which delivers the WELL Building Standard. helps create spaces that contribute to human health, performance and well-being by marrying the best innovations in technology, health, science, and real estate. The Delos platform includes programming, consulting, research, and an array of innovative products and technologies that research suggests may improve occupant well-being. More information is available at www.delos.com.