THE WELL BUILDING STANDARD®

Over the same period, strategies to enhance human health and well-being have played a relatively small role in the evolution of building standards. We believe that the time has come to elevate human health and comfort to the forefront of building practices and reinvent buildings that are not only better for the planet, but also for people.

1. This is the first standard of its kind that focuses solely on the health and wellness of building occupants.

2. WELL identifies 100 performance metrics, design strategies, and policies that can be implemented by the owners, designers, engineers, contractors, users and operators of a building.

3. WELL is based on a thorough review of the existing research on the effects of spaces on individuals and has been advanced through a thorough scientific and technical review.

4. In order to achieve the requirements of the WELL Building Standard, the space must undergo a process that includes an on-site assessment and performance testing by a third party.

A Wellness Standard for Buildings

The WELL Building Standard marries best practices in design and construction with evidence-based health and wellness interventions. It harnesses the built environment as a vehicle to support human health, well-being and comfort. WELL Certified™ spaces and developments can lead to a built environment that helps to improve the nutrition, fitness, mood, sleep, comfort and performance of its occupants. This is achieved in part by implementing strategies, programs and technologies designed to encourage healthy, more active lifestyles and reducing occupant exposure to harmful chemicals and pollutants. This document presents the overall strategies, performance targets, certification and adherence steps required for projects to meet the WELL Building Standard.

WELL Building Standard v1 is applicable for commercial and institutional buildings and WELL Certification can be applied to three project typologies:

1. New and Existing Buildings

2. New and Existing Interiors

3. Core and Shell Pilot programs are available for other building sectors, including multifamily residences, retail, and restaurants.

Projects representing these building sectors are invited to join our ongoing pilot program. Future refinements will address the specific requirements of sports facilities, healthcare facilities, and communities. Updates to the WELL Building Standard The WELL Building Standard is a dynamic rating system. As the intersection between design and human health evolves, we strongly believe in the importance of advancing alongside. The WELL Building Standard (WELL) v1.0 was launched in October 2014, and as part of the development process, updates to the standard incorporate early user feedback, including simplifications, language enhancements and additional clarifications to certain feature requirements.

ORGANIZATION OF THE WELL BUILDING STANDARD®

The WELL Building Standard is organized into seven categories of wellness called Concepts:

Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Fitness, Comfort and Mind.

WELL Building Standard Features, Parts and Requirements The seven Concepts are comprised of 102 features. Every feature is intended to address specific aspects of occupant health, comfort or knowledge. Each feature is divided into parts, which are often tailored to a specific building type. This means that depending on the building type (e.g., New and Existing Interiors or Core and Shell), only certain parts of a given feature may be applicable. Within each part are one or more requirements, which dictate specific parameters or metrics to be met. In order for a project to receive credit for a particular feature, all of its applicable component parts specifications must be satisfied.

Features can be:

• Performance-based standards that allow flexibility in how a project meets acceptable quantified thresholds

• Prescriptive standards that require specific technologies, design strategies or protocols to be implemented Preconditions Some WELL features are categorized as Preconditions—necessary for all levels of WELL Certification.

These features represent the core of the WELL Building Standard. Preconditions can be thought of as the foundation for wellness in the built environment. It is important to note that for certification to be awarded, all applicable Preconditions must be met. Optimizations Optimizations are not required to achieve Silver level certification, but create a flexible pathway towards Gold and Platinum level certification.

 These features include optional technologies, strategies, protocols and designs. IWBI recommends that all projects strive to achieve as many Optimizations as possible.