By Debra McLaughlin – Sr. Designer, NCIDQ, WELL AP

GREATSPACES Fall | Winter 2020 issue of their digital magazine

With the global pandemic that we are all experiencing, now more than ever building owners and tenants
are focusing on the health of their occupants. This is at the center of the WELL Building Standard, which is the leading global rating system that focuses on the ways that buildings and everything in them, can improve our comfort, drive better choices, and generally enhance, not compromise, our health and wellness. WELL is an investment in the world’s most valuable asset—people.

Launched in October 2014 after six years of research and development, the WELL Building Standard is the premier standard for buildings, interior spaces and communities seeking to implement, validate and measure features that support and advance human health and wellness. It was developed by integrating scientific and medical research and literature on environmental health, behavioral factors, health outcomes and demographic risk factors that affect health with leading practices in building design, construction and management. Drawing from the experience of thousands of WELL users, practitioners,
medical professionals, public health experts and building scientists around the world during a two year pilot phase, WELL v2 was recently approved and is the current standard

The WELL Building Standard encompasses ten concepts: Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind and Community, which in turn consist of 108 features with distinct health intents. Projects are evaluated through documentation and site verification on what features are met, and can be awarded Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum WELL certification. Under WELL v2, project types are categorized under Owneroccupied, where the project is mainly occupied by the
project owner, or WELL Core, where the project owner occupies a small portion of the project area and rents/leases most of the space to one or more tenants.

Does this sound like a good fit for your business? If so, there is a 5-step process to certification. A WELL Accredited Professional is someone who is knowledgeable of the conceptual and applied frameworks of WELL and are experienced in its application. WELL AP’s can help guide projects to successful certification awards. WELL Certification and the WELL AP credentialing program are third-party administered through IWBI’s collaboration with Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), which also administers LEED certification.

In response to the pandemic, the International WELL Building Institute developed the WELL Health-Safety Rating for buildings which focuses on operational policies, maintenance protocols, emergency plans and stakeholder education to address a post-COVID-19 environment now and broader health and safety-related issues into the future. The WELL Health-Safety seal signifies a commitment to supporting the
health of individuals within that space.

In addition, to address the pandemic, the IWBI is now offering free access to its COVID-19 Training for Professionals, which provides evidence-based strategies and expert recommendations to promote health and safety as businesses look to get back to the workplace. Currently, there are 4,921 projects encompassing over 698 million square feet across 65 countries that are applying WELL. Pepper Construction of Ohio is one of those projects and is located in Dublin, Ohio. When they relocated their
offices to a newly constructed industrial building, they saw an opportunity to embrace the ideals of WELL and decided to pursue certification. Having a WELL AP on the design team enabled assurance that the project would incorporate elements to meet the required preconditions and as many of the optimizations to achieve the highest rating. Research shows that when organizations support the health of their most valuable assets — people, they often experience lower turnover and burnout, as well as, greater productivity and engagement driving improvements for their bottom line.

For more information on the WELL Building Standard, contact a WELL Accredited Professional, or see their website at: WWW.WELLCERTIFIED.COM