indieDwell and Good Health and Well-Being
indieDwell focuses on the following UN goals to support good health and well-being:
3.4 By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being.
3.9 By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.
indieDwell’s actions on health and well-being contribute to our employees, stakeholders, our homeowners, and the communities where we operate.
Partnerships
There’s an old adage about being defined by the company you keep - and we believe that is true. indieDwell relies upon deep partnerships to help us execute our mission of providing healthy, durable, sustainable and efficient housing. Some of our main partners include the Colorado Health Foundation, which brings health in reach for all Coloradans; Gary Community Investments, which invests in for-profit and philanthropic solutions for Colorado's low-income children and their families; the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative guided by its belief that everyone deserves access to safe and secure housing; Enterprise Community Partners, which improves communities and people's lives by making well-designed homes affordable; and, The Colorado Trust, a health equity foundation.
Materials
indieDwell builds its homes with products that are free from Volatile Organic Compounds, otherwise known as VOCs. These compounds emanate from paint, caulking, lubricants, sealants, adhesives and primers, even at room temperature and are known to cause respiratory, allergic and immune effects. We maintain a large database of our materials indicating that they are U.S. EPA and/or California Air Resources Board (CARB2) compliant. As we build our homes with a steel exoskeleton and steel framing as opposed to wood, there is nothing to attract pests, rot, or mold further contributing to a healthier environment. Lastly, all our homes contains an Energy Recovery Ventilator, a product that exchanges the air within the home with air drawn from the outside and run through a HEPA filter.
Benefits
For the health and well-being of our employees we offer fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance along with paid time off, family leave for men and women, and an EAP program for employees needing wellness support.
Reporting and Certification
This year with the establishment of the Chief Impact Officer position, indieDwell will be collecting data on how our homes contribute to physical health, and publishing our efforts on reducing emissions of harmful pollutants from our manufacturing sites. As noted in previous posts, indieDwell utilizes third party verification whenever possible to validate our contributions toward environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. All our homes are built to the U.S. EPA Indoor Air Plus standard, and a third party files the certification in the RESNET database, which is publicly accessible.
Those are some of the highlights of how we’re working to support good health and well-being among our communities, for our residents and in the communities where we operate. What ideas do you have for increasing health and well-being? Drop us a line! If you’re interested in partnering with us on this initiative or others related to it connect with us here.