Citi announced on Friday (February 2) that Citi Tower at One Bay East in Hong Kong has been awarded the silver WELL Certification by the International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™). The Citi-owned building is the first project in Hong Kong to be awarded WELL Certification, which underscores Citi’s global commitment to promoting wellness in the workplace.
The WELL Building Standard™ (WELL) is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying and monitoring building features that impact the health and well-being of building occupants. WELL
focuses on seven categories of building performance: Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Fitness, Comfort and Mind.
Citi Tower was awarded the WELL Certification following a rigorous performance verification process that took place in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Weber Lo, Citi Country Officer and Chief Executive Officer for Hong Kong and Macau, said: “Citi Tower is a significant milestone in our pursuit to operate world-class facilities that meet high environmental standards and also provide employees with workplaces that support their well-being. There is an increased emphasis on embracing wellness in business. With employee health and well-being a top citizenship priority of Citi, we are proud to be at the forefront of this emerging global trend.”
Said Rick Fedrizzi, Chairman and CEO of International WELL Building Institute: “The Citi Tower project underscores Citi’s commitment to provide a true wellness environment for its employees and aspirational space for its clients. The WELL Certification of this project demonstrates to the global corporate community doing business in Hong Kong that WELL is achievable, and it is a practical approach to providing healthier built environments that help people thrive.”
In 2017, Citi Tower was awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum
Certification by the US Green Building Council, making Citi Tower the only Citi property project globally to have been certified for both WELL and LEED green building design standards.
As part of Citi’s global Sustainable Progress Strategy and overall commitment to action on climate change including goals for energy, waste and water reduction by 2020, Citi has been expanding its focus on the emerging field of sustainable building design. The bank made a commitment to obtain LEED certification for 33% of its global real estate portfolio by 2020. As of 2017, there were more than 200 LEED-certified Citi facilities globally, which accounts for 20% of Citi’s real estate portfolio.
Citi Tower at One Bay East is situated on the waterfront of Kwun Tong, housing close to 3,000 employees. Citi Tower comprises 18 floors of approximately 327,000 sq ft of Grade A office space. The building achieved many firsts and it has been accredited with multiple accolades in the past two years:
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First building to register for WELL Certification in Hong Kong
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First WELL Pre-certified Silver building in Hong Kong
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First WELL CertifiedTM building in Hong Kong
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First RESET Full Certification in Hong Kong
- The world’s largest WELL CertifiedTM project for New and Existing Interiors (as of January 2018)
- LEED v4 Platinum Certification
- Grand winner for Excellence in Interior Architecture in the American Institute of Architecture International Region DesignAwards
- The One Bay East project won the RICS “Sustainability Achievement of the Year” Award in 2016
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions.
