Want some vitamin C with your shower?

Luxury apartments sometimes tout kitchens full of granite and stainless steel or fancy bathroom fixtures.

A historic building in Philly's Rittenhouse Square is adding some very unusual options that are supposed to improve their residents' health at 1616 Walnut Street.

When the renovated building open its doors in Center City this April, it will have more than 200 luxury apartments.

Paul Scialla, the founder of "wellness real estate company" Delos, said some of those apartments will also have something special.

"They will have circadian lighting elements that help balance the body's circadian system that allow for energy levels during the day and better sleeping patterns at night," Scialla said. "There is EMF shielding which help block exposure to electro-magnetic fields."

Scialla's company created WELL Building Standards to rate buildings offering these kinds of options. His company partnered with the building's developer at 1616 Walnut Street, however the new apartments will not be certified under the standard.

"We're spending 92 percent of our time indoors now whether it's our homes, our offices, our schools," Scialla said. "If we can introduce preventative medical intentions into the places that we're spending most of our time, we feel that's a big win."

Wellness features in the 9th floor apartments will also include advanced air purification and water filtration systems and shower water that's infused with vitamin C. That's supposed to neutralize chlorine in tap water and promote healthy hair and skin. The developer says the wellness units will be slightly more expensive than the other apartments in the building, but would not say how much more.

Scialla said it's worth it.

"When you think of a person's home, the environment around them that they're spending all this time in, a passive delivery of alternative healing and integrative medical therapies while the person is spending their time at home, is very appealing."

Apartments on the ninth-floor of the luxury building will include a long list of wellness features:

• WELL Shield™: a photo catalytic coating applied to high-touch areas throughout the residence (kitchen countertops, bedside tables, bathroom doorknobs)
• Purified Air: the most advanced HEPA-standard air purification system reduces allergens, toxins and pathogens, creating better air quality and breathing
• Purified Drinking Water: reduces disinfectant byproducts, chlorine, pesticides and some pharmaceutical and personal care products for the cleanest, most purified in-room water
• Vitamin C-infused Shower: shower water infused with Vitamin C which neutralizes chlorine to promote healthy hair and skin
• Energizing Light: exposes residents to short periods of blue-shaded lighting to strip melatonin and boost cortisol levels to increase energy
• Dawn Simulation Alarm Clock: awakens the body gradually and naturally with dawn stimulation so residents feel refreshed and energized
• Aromatherapy Diffuser: enhances the residence’s atmosphere with a variety of scents such as lavender which promotes more restful sleep
• Black Out Shades: eliminates any light that may trespass at night and reduce a resident’s quality of sleep
• Long Wave Night Lights: subtle red lights incorporated into the hallways and bathrooms in each residence to sufficiently illuminate the room for safe navigation at night without disrupting the body’s rest cycle
• Warm White Room Lighting: energy efficient LED lighting that maintains and supports the residents’ natural circadian rhythm
• Reflexology Bath Mat: made from river stones, the reflexology bath mat provides an alternative relaxation method
• Cedar Baseboards
• EMF Shielding: protects against electrical equipment and wiring that emanates disruptive EMFs

Source: Newsworks.org