Humans typically spend up to 90 percent of time Indoors. WELL Building Standards Make The Inside More Healthful and Livable.

5 min readJul 29, 2020

Socially, it’s only responsible thing to do to start pulling in available technologies and techniques in building and community design- to ensure water, air and living systems are healthy and available.

In both the residential space and commercial space, consumers are seeking more attention into healthy design and healthy spaces.

McKinsey & Company predicts “Wellness is the next trillion dollar industry as employers and developers invest in healthy living programs and as customers take more responsibility for optimizing their own health.”

People spend about 90% of their time indoors
Companies spend about 90% of their capital on their people and payroll
The WELL Building Standard provides guidelines to make people happier, healthier, and more productive

People spend 90% of their time indoors and that indoor air quality in approximately 70% of buildings is worse than outdoor air quality. A myriad of research has been done regarding the correlation between the design of the built environment and human health, especially in the workplace. Some connections are obvious— most people have experienced the “off-gassing” of new carpet or wall finishes, for example and understand that the release of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can lead to headaches, nausea, and fatigue. Other important elements are more subtle. The wavelength of light used to illuminate our workspaces during the day can lead to sleeplessness at night (our circadian rhythms are instrinsically tied to light); the design of stairwells can entice us to use them or divert us to head for the elevator; even colors and textures of rooms and walls, can influence whether we feel energized and productive throughout the day or bored, sluggish and disengaged.

Indoor Building Elements of Health:

AIR-

Improving indoor air by removing pathogens, pollen and pollutants from the air.

Water-

Using best-in-class filtration technologies to improve in-home water quality and build water systems that are efficient.

Light- needs to mimic the same cycles in the natural world, in order to align with human natural circadian rhythms. Syncing light and keeping in mind the types of light available in nature, can help with sleep and improves productivity.

As humans, we have always been dependent on our environments to nurture and sustain us. We rise with the sun, we eat off the land, we make shelter of stones and trees. We need water, air and light to survive. We need good water, good air and good light to thrive.

We build structures to protect ourselves — from nature and other forces. And we spend increasing amounts of time in these structures, living more than 90% of our lives indoors. Our buildings are designed to keep us safe, to protect us from the elements. But many of the places where we spend our time also get in the way of our health, putting one degree of separation between us and that which has always kept us alive.

Nature has long been our caretaker. With intentional design, our buildings can be too.

Thanks to an evolving and growing evidence base, we understand more about the relationship between our environments and our health than ever before. We know how to create spaces that enhance, rather than hinder our health and well-being. We can measure- and then improve — the quality of our air, water and light. We know how to design environments that fuel our bodies, keep us moving, inspire our best work and facilitate a good night’s sleep.

Through the vehicle of WELL, IWBI helps to translate what we know into what we practice.

Powerful Opportunities for Health Promotion

As designers, engineers, builders, operators and owners of buildings, we too are caretakers.

We have an obligation to create spaces that move us — all of us — in the direction of health.

Principles of WELL

The development of WELL is founded on the following principles:

Equitable: Provides the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people, inclusive of all demographic and economic groups and with special consideration of groups of the least advantage or vulnerable populations.

Global: Proposes interventions that are feasible, achievable and relevant across many applications throughout the world.

Evidence-based: Undergirded by strong, validated research yielding conclusions that can reasonably be expected to receive acceptance by the

Ten Concepts

There are ten concepts in WELL v2: Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind and Community.

Each concept is comprised of features with distinct health intents. Features are either preconditions or optimizations.

Meaningful Weightings

Scoring and Certification Levels

Projects must achieve all preconditions as well as a certain number of points to earn different levels of certification:

WELL Silver Certification: 50 points.
WELL Gold Certification: 60 points.
WELL Platinum Certification: 80 points.

Projects must earn a minimum of two points per concept (or in the case of the Air and Thermal Comfort concepts, at least four points combined). Projects may pursue no more than 12 points per concept and no more than 100 points total across the ten concepts. Projects can also pursue an additional ten points for Innovation. At the point of submitting for Documentation Review, projects must submit a scorecard that contains a selection of points and features in accordance with these rules.

Certification Levels

WELL was developed by integrating scientific and medical research and literature on environmental health, behavioral factors, health outcomes and demographic risk factors that affect human health with leading practices in design, operations and management. WELL also references existing standards and best practice guidelines set by governmental and professional organizations.

Alignment with Green Building Standards

Human health is inextricable from planetary health. WELL is designed to work harmoniously with leading green building Standards. Projects are encouraged and incentivized to pursue dual certifications under WELL and green building Standards.

https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/ashrae-releases-covid-19-recommendations

https://www.buildinggreen.c https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/ashrae-releases-covid-19-recommendations om/news-analysis/how-fitwel-and-well-are-responding-covid-19