USGBC’s recently announced economic recovery strategy and vision, Healthy People in Healthy Places Equals a Healthy Economy, articulates the interconnected role buildings and communities play in people’s health and the economy at large. To make this strategy actionable, USGBC’s Healthy Economy Forum, held Aug. 4–5, convened industry experts and frontline practitioners to provide insights and strategies for making our spaces healthier and more resilient.
The forum was attended by nearly 1,000 professionals over the course of two days and addressed a wide range of building sectors. It examined the current steps being taken by the green building industry to ensure that people feel safe and healthy in our spaces, while rebuilding our economy and replacing unprecedented job losses around the world.
You can now download the event report, which summarizes the forum’s discussion and is the first step toward a more comprehensive road map for the implementation of the healthy places for a healthy economy vision.
USGBC, its members and its partners are already the leaders in building sustainably. We believe that healthy people in healthy places is the fastest way to build a healthy economy. The global pandemic has only made our beliefs that much stronger and our mission that much more vital. We don’t have to choose between public health and a healthy economy—the future will require both to thrive.
If the ultimate goal is rebuilding the economy to be even healthier, how do we get there? Presenters at the forum debated this question and agreed the backbone of any economy is its people. They drive capital and operating costs, sustained market value and return on investment. One presenter cited a statistic from a McKinsey study that if businesses can emphasize better health, we can add $12 trillion to the global GDP by 2040. Focusing on individuals is really the same thing as focusing on the bottom line, as the health of our communities is critical to functioning economies.
Download the Healthy Economy Forum Report here: https://www.usgbc.org/resources/health-economy-forum-report
