Wellness Housing: How to Seek Wellbeing in the Real Estate Sector?
One of the most recent bets in the real estate sector is that of the Wellness Housing that is expanding throughout the world. Know what it is about!.
One of the biggest concerns in the real estate sector in general has to do with sustainability, understood in different areas: economic, social, environmental and energy. Photo: Pexels
LatinAmerican Post | Luis Ángel Hernández Liborio
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Leer en español: Vivienda Wellness: ¿Cómo buscar el bienestar el sector inmobiliario?
One of the biggest concerns in the real estate sector in general has to do with sustainability, understood in different areas: economic, social, environmental and energy. This makes homes, and other types of buildings, more efficient, environmentally friendly and, above all, generate well-being for its inhabitants. That is what defines Wellness Real Estate.
What is the Wellness Real Estate?
They are the properties that are destined to seek the well-being and health of its inhabitants, it seems obvious, since architecture, urban planning, interior design, etc. they must always have that objective as well. So, the difference or added value is that healthy housing also relies on medicine, organic architecture, bio-architecture, etc. to look for materials and designs that guarantee the healthy life of its inhabitants. This type of property implies a concept that goes far beyond simple architecture, they have to do with integration with nature and the maximum use of its resources in an efficient and sustainable way.
In general terms, for a home to be considered healthy it must meet these requirements: take advantage of water with systems that help save it, as well as its reuse, in addition to collecting rainwater for different uses that do not require Drinking water, although filtering systems can also be installed to make it drinkable. Taking advantage of natural light, in addition to the orientation of the property, the use that light can have throughout the day should be considered in the design, to avoid the consumption of electricity or even to generate it through cells. Efficient use of natural ventilation, use of non-toxic materials, use of renewable or recycling materials that do not involve waste harmful to health and finally the integration of natural elements in the design.
Wellness Housing Benefits
In terms of interior design, home automation plays an important role, since it is what will increase the energy efficiency of the home by monitoring and controlling the ventilation, heating, lighting and turning off systems, in addition to checking that the air complies with the levels of certain purification. Healthy housing will make it easier for its inhabitants to lead a healthy life. However, it is not decisive that the users of the property must have a specific lifestyle to be able to use the added value of the property. The work of the house is to support the healthy performance of those who inhabit it, from the psychology of the colors present in the walls, plants, lighting, decoration that are complemented with materials that are guaranteed not to cause damage to health.
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This home goes beyond the functionality of the property, it must directly impact the physical and emotional well-being of the inhabitants. However, the benefits are also in the environment, since the efficient use of natural resources and energy allow the current trend of environmental protection to be followed. Its popularity has been increasing, 4 years ago at a global level this niche of the real estate industry represented $ 134 billion dollars, according to data from the Global Wellness Institute. In the same year, the institute estimated at 4.2 billion dollars the total value of the wellness economy, which integrates areas such as medicine, personal care, beauty, tourism, spa, etc. which accounts for the importance of this industry.
How is Latin America on this path?
In 2017, the Global Wellness Institute had a record of 740 healthy real estate projects in 34 countries on all continents, of which 665 were concentrated in the United States, Canada and Asia Pacific. With 12 projects, Latin America was just above Africa and the Middle East, a number that allows us to understand the potential of Latin America. Due to its proximity to the United States and its economic influence, Mexico has several projects of this type in its main cities: Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey where construction has focused on offices, hotels, schools and healthy homes. The construction of healthy buildings in homes, hotels, plazas and glamping has also grown in Colombia, the most advanced being the projects in Antioquia, according to Caracol. In São Paulo, the first two hotels were built with this concept in Brazil, although there have been housing and office projects for some time, as in Chile where the Wellnesshaus spa is a good example of the economic impact that healthy architecture can have.