What is WELL?
The WELL Building Standard is a performance-based system for buildings to objectively improve human health and wellbeing via building design, operations, and policies.
Focusing on the ways that buildings can enhance our health, rather than compromising it, the WELL Building Standard was designed by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and has over 30,000 projects registered in 98 countries across the globe.
A Tale of Two Job Offers
Meet John. He’s a millennial in his late 20s and just got two new job offers from Company A and Company B. They’re similar jobs with similar wages, so which job will John take?
In the past John would consider things like his salary, his commute, his annual leave allowance, and career development opportunities.
But these days, John will also consider the building he’s going to be working in. Is it a pleasant environment? Would his desk have access to natural light? Are there green spaces in the local area for a walk on his lunch break? Is there an on-site gym? Is plenty of fruit and veg served in the canteen? Are there plants inside the building, or nice views out the window? Are there bike hoops for him to cycle to work, and showers? Is the building temperature comfortable? Has the furniture been made with low-VOC materials?
In the past, John would have likely put the most weight on his salary offer. But if Company A has a more pleasant, healthy, and safe working environment than the dingy office that Company B offers, our millennial John is likely to choose to work for Company A.
In this scenario, a WELL Certification gave Company A the competitive advantage that ultimately attracted John - the top talent.
How Does a WELL Certification Work?
WELL Building Standard Structure
With over 100 Features across ten ‘Concept’ categories, including Air, Water, Nourishment, and Movement, the Standard can be applied to various building types, including offices, schools, residential spaces, and commercial kitchens. The IWBI have implemented a rigorous assessment process, including desk-based documentation reviews and on-site testing and audits.
Projects can achieve one of three levels of certification based upon their performance: Silver, Gold, Platinum. Each Concept contains features which are either mandatory Preconditions, or optional Optimisations, which can be used to achieve a higher level of certification.
Companies may certify only one building or scale up to certify multiple buildings on a global scale, using WELL Portfolio.
WELL Health Safety Rating
The WELL Health Safety Rating (WELL HSR) was launched in response to COVID-19 in conjunction with health and safety subject matter experts across the globe, including the World Health Organisation, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Task Force of COVID-19.
WELL HSR is a roadmap to support organisations to put in place plans and processes for effective resilience and response. The Rating consists of a subset of strategies from the WELL Building Standard which address health and safety issues within buildings, with a focus on operations and management policies across 5 key themes.
WELL HSR includes more than 20 Features; projects must achieve 15 Features to acquire the Rating. It is also possible to score Innovation points for novel initiatives to address the client’s unique needs.
Projects initially provide a full Rating submission across every Feature they wish to achieve. For projects targeting multiple sites, a spot-check auditing process for some Features streamlines the effort, and global policies can be implemented across every site.
Benefits of WELL
WELL Buildings can attract and retain talent, as we saw in John’s case, as well as improve employee satisfaction, reduce absenteeism and health case costs, and in most cases, enhance the building’s sustainability performance.
Achieving WELL HSR provides employers with the opportunity to place a visible ‘Health Safety Seal’ on the entrance to their certified buildings, which gives visible reassurance to employees that the building is a safe space in which to work.
Both the WELL Building Standard and WELL HSR can be used as a vehicle to implement industry best practice design, policies, and processes.
How to Achieve the WELL Building Standard
Working with an experienced WELL Accredited Professional (WELL AP) who has expert knowledge of wellbeing in buildings can be a huge help in achieving the WELL Building Standard for both new and existing buildings.
A WELL AP can also support companies to achieve the WELL Health-Safety Rating for an individual building or at a global scale by engaging with stakeholders, working with your organization to identify achievable Features, and collaborating with the International WELL Build Institute.
Typically, the process starts by completing a gap analyses of building specifications against the WELL Building Standard and WELL HSR to highlight focus areas.
At Antea Group, our WELL APs have successfully worked with clients to achieve both the WELL Building Standard, and WELL HSR. Our clients benefit from our thorough and clear advice on aligning their building design and operations with WELL, as well as our meticulous attention to detail when coordinating large scale WELL projects.
If you’re looking to begin the process of becoming WELL Certified, connect with our experts today! We’re happy to answer any questions and guide you through the journey of achieving both the WELL Building Standard and WELL HSR.
What Happened to John?
So, back to John. He’s in his mid-30s now. He cycles to work. He picks herbs from the roof terrace allotment to put on his salad at lunch. He alternates between sitting and standing at his height adjustable desk. He uses the gym with his colleagues on his lunch break. Despite having a booming voice, he never gets complaints from his peers because of the great sound privacy in the office. He recently benefited from a workload assessment with his manager to reduce stress.
He looks out the window at the tree line and breathes a sigh of relief that he chose Company A rather than Company B all those years ago.
