WELL Building Standard / a 5-minute guide
What is a healthy building standard?
In recent years, the concept of wellness real estate and healthy buildings has gained significant attention and the recent COVID pandemic further served to push the real estate industry towards a green and healthy awakening.
Healthy building standards aim to promote the health and wellbeing of occupants by creating a comfortable and healthy indoor environment, this is done through a combination of construction, architecture, interior design, mechanical and operational interventions.
One of the most widely recognized healthy building standards is the WELL Building Standard, the focus of this article.
In summary, this is a certification program that focuses on seven core concepts: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind.
It provides a framework for building design and construction intended to promote improved physical and mental health of building occupants by leveraging the latest scientific research and global experts with taking into account the specific needs of different occupant groups, including children, elderly, and people with disabilities.
This is in contrast to other models for defining the concept such as that of the Harvard Chan School in Harvard University that inspired this article of our based on the nine principles of a healthy building. In the end, we are all pointing in the same direction, WELL is a certification, the 9 Principles is more of an intellectual framework.
Are healthy building standards green?
The short answer to this is 'yes but only indirectly', as it is not their main focus but concern is taken to factor in the other side of the coin, environmentally friendly building construction, interior design and management.
Green building practices, such as the use of sustainable materials and energy-efficient systems, are therefore integrated into the human health oriented standards wherever appropriate to ensure that buildings are not only healthy for occupants but also sustainable for the planet.
On this basis, a double certification process of say USGBC LEED or BREEAM in parallel with WELL is really the gold standard for many conscious property developers nowadays.
What is WELL accreditation and the International Well Building Institute?
WELL is a certification system that focuses on promoting the health and wellness in new and existing buildings. It is a performance-based system that evaluates buildings, communities, and organizations on their ability to promote human health and wellbeing.
The WELL certification is administered by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and is based on a comprehensive set of criteria that cover seven core areas of wellness: air, to improve air quality, and water quality, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind.
In the context of wellness real estate, WELL certification is becoming an increasingly important factor in determining the value and desirability of a property. As awareness of the impact buildings can have on health and wellbeing grows, investors and tenants are seeking out properties that have been designed and built with wellness in mind.
What is the role of a wellness real estate consultant?
Getting there successfully is where a WELL consultant providing advisory services can be invaluable, no matter whether formal certification is being pursued or not. In the end our role is about to advance human health in buildings and interiors, nothing more nothing less.
This role requires being not just an expert in the WELL certification system itself but also creative solutions to integrating advanced human health design interventions that do not break the budget, whether that via innovative biophilic design solutions or leveraging the latest piece of medical research.
With the help of a WELL building consultant or accredited professional, property owners and developers can navigate the certification process, demonstrate compliance with the global benchmarks right up to the level of WELL platinum certification or the newcomer WELL health & safety rating, all the while backing this up with ongoing performance testing via a range of healthy building monitoring features.
Why was the WELL Standard for new and existing buildings introduced?
We believe the WELL Standard was introduced for several reasons. Clearly there is a growing demand for wellness-focused real estate. Over the years, there has been a significant shift towards prioritizing health and well-being in our daily lives, and this has carried over into the real estate industry.
Residential and office development projects in particular, whether existing interiors and a fit out project, or a new build project design, have the opportunity to leverage a host of wellness features geared for people's health. The WELL Building Standard is effectively the world's leading framework for designing single building and operating such spaces that prioritize human health and wellness.
Prior to the introduction of the WELL building standard, there was no clear-cut framework for creating wellness-focused spaces, the type of work we specialise in at Biofilico. This made it difficult for designers and operators to know what aspects of existing buildings to focus on to promote wellness.
Using the WELL building standard as inspiration and guidance only
The WELL Standard provides a comprehensive set of guidelines to ensure that all aspects of the built environment are taken into consideration. Again, it is worth reiterating that full certification is not obligatory and can simply be used as inspiration for smaller projects without the budget to pursue all of the WELL features with an accredited professional.
The introduction of the WELL Standard has also led to an increase in demand for well consultants, such as us. These are professionals who specialize in helping building owners and designers implement the standard, this work can be purely advisory with the team making recommendations to the project team and architects, or it can be more creative, with the consultants dipping into the design process with concept designs for specific spaces that are maximized for WELL features and point scores, for example biophilic recharge rooms or biophilic gyms, our specialty!
WELL, human health and healthy building materials
One of our favourite sections of the standard, and one that is especially applicable even to those merely aiming for silver certification, is the healthy materials guidance.
Here a design team really needs to work alongside the external healthy building consultants, if they do not have such expertise in-house, to come up with a range of design strategies addressing wellbeing issues found in sick buildings such as poor indoor air quality caused by toxic materials with Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs).
Here the WELL Building Standard encourages the project team and specifiers to think not just in terms of form and function but also well being and indoor air quality, minimizing human exposure to toxic materials, or eliminating toxic compounds indoors that could be introduced through material specifications.
The WELL certification process
WELL Building standard certification is possible in Silver, Gold, and Platinum (with the Platinum certification being a top achievement). A WELL-accredited building is a three-year process.
To get WELL Building certification, you need to enroll in the program by paying an enrollment fee of $2,500 [1][2]. After that, you need to pay a program fee of $0.16 per square foot, with a minimum of $6,500 and a maximum of $98,000 [1], or a maximum of $100,500 [2]. The exact program fee will depend on the size of your building. Additionally, you will need to pay required performance testing fees [2].
The WELL certification process involves several steps, including registering your project, submitting documentation, and undergoing performance testing. Overall, the cost of WELL certification can vary depending on the size and complexity of your project, but it can provide significant benefits and ROI in terms of improved health and employee wellbeing, for occupants.
References: [1] WELL v2 | Certification Pricing [2] What does WELL Certification cost? [3] WELL Certification Cost: What is the ROI of WELL?
What are the principles of well certification?
The principles of WELL certification are a comprehensive set of guidelines that focus on creating healthy and sustainable buildings. This certification is designed for wellness real estate, which aims to promote the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of its occupants.
A WELL consultant is an individual from a company like ours trained and certified to assess buildings and ensure they meet these human health and built environment principles.
There are several principles of WELL certification that are essential for creating a healthy and sustainable building. The first principle is indoor air quality, which focuses on providing clean and fresh air indoors via proper ventilation, air filtration, and minimizing the presence of harmful chemicals.
The second principle is water quality, which focuses on providing access to clean and safe drinking water. This includes filtration systems and testing for contaminants.
The third principle is nourishment, which focuses on providing healthy and nutritious food options for occupants. This includes priority access to nutritionally dense, fresh, seasonal food rather than packaged and processed options such as sweet snacks and soft drinks in vending machines or staff canteens.
The fourth principle is light, which focuses on providing adequate light levels and minimizing exposure to harmful light sources. This includes a militant focus on maximizing access to natural light, combined with sensitive lighting design, and minimizing the use of harsh artificial light after dark that might otherwise disrupt sleep patterns.
The fifth principle is fitness, which focuses on promoting physical activity and movement within a building be it residential, educational or office. This includes access to fitness facilities, bike storage, and walking paths as well as active design stairwells.
The sixth principle is comfort, which focuses on providing a comfortable and supportive environment for occupants. This includes ergonomic chairs, adjustable desks, and temperature control.
The seventh principle is mind, health and wellbeing, which focuses on promoting mental and emotional well-being. This includes access to meditation rooms, stress management programs, and mental health resources.
The eighth and final principle is community, a far wider scope concept related to human health but a critical one nonetheless as it focuses on promoting social connectivity and a sense of community within the building, which in turn will impact human health. This includes communal meeting spaces, social events, and volunteer opportunities, all intended to foster a sense of well being and connection amongst building occupants.