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Foundry building in East Austin aims to make tenants healthier

The new building has WELL certification.

AUSTIN, Texas — A healthy building can lead to healthy workers. That's the idea behind WELL certification.

The Foundry, a mixed-use development off Comal Street in East Austin, is now WELL-certified after meeting the guidelines of having enough natural light, outdoor common space, a water filtration system, an air filtration system and enough greenery in every room. 

To be WELL-certified, a building must improve health in the areas of air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind.

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The Cielo Property Group developed the Foundry. It opened in the summer of 2019.

CEO Bobby Dillard looked for ways to support people's health and longevity. 

"There's an outdoor roof decks, there's a common area, we have a paseo on the ground floor, a big common deck area," he said. "How do we add these things so people can still feel connected to nature throughout their workday?"

Dillard said health and wellness is a major trend in the market now.

"Forty percent of all buildings in the United States have mold issues. We have an epidemic of health as far as autoimmune diseases, diseases we don't know exactly know the cause for like cancer, heart disease, these things. If you're going to control a piece of the puzzle, most doctors, most scientists are going to say these stuff is caused by environment," Dillard said.  

WATCH: Health care bus helps underserved Central Texas mothers 

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