Colorado Real Estate Journal - September 2, 2015
As humans, we spend 90 percent of our time indoors, including a significant amount of time in the working environment. This means our physiology is particularly vulnerable to the built environment. Development and even sustainable design traditionally has focused on the operational efficiency and environmental impact of the building alone, leaving occupant activity, mood, performance and overall well-being and health in the background. Today, we know that these development considerations can be significant market differentiators and have a new system to focus specially on occupants. The new WELL Building Standard prioritizes people and is the first certification to focus exclusively on the health and wellness of the building’s occupants. This framework is the result of Delos, the development company that coined the “Wellness Real Estate” term, which seeks to merge medicine, science, design and construction to retool the impact our built environment has on building inhabitants. It also holds organizations accountable by requiring continual certification and verification that facility management is continuing with goals established at the onset of the project. We are working on a local tenant improvement project pursuing WELL Building Standard certification to further understand the impact our built environment has on users and bring this knowledge into practice to inform our future design efforts. As designers, we welcome this new guide that prioritizes the people for whom our designs are created and helps substantiate this prioritization with current, rigorous research, resulting in evidence-based, data-driven design that so many of us in the development community strive for. This standard applies to new construction, major renovation, tenant improvement and core and shell development. WELL is administered by the International WELL Building Institute, a public benefit corporation created by Delos. In order to achieve WELL certification, a space must undergo a documentation process, in addition to an on-site assessment and performance testing by a third party. The WELL Building Standard is third-party certified by Green Business Certification Inc., which also administers the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification and LEED credentialing program, a sister organization of the U.S. Green Building Council. The WELL standard was created to work harmoniously with the more widely recognized LEED Green Building Rating System, as well as the Living Building Challenge. The tenets of the WELL standard, which IWBI calls the “human architecture interface,” is broken it into the following sectors: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind. These concepts are then linked to following body systems, which are the foundation of human health: cardiovascular, digestive, endocrine, immune, integumentary, muscular, nervous, reproductive, respiratory, urinary and skeletal. These seven concept categories then break down into “preconditions” and “optimizations” (akin to LEED prerequisites and credits) that are instituted to varying degrees based on different project types and certification threshold levels targeted. Preconditions are what the WELL Building Standard considers the foundation for wellness in the built environment. For certification or compliance to be awarded, all applicable preconditions must be met. Optimizations are features that include optional technologies, strategies, protocols and designs that can be applied to a project to qualify for WELL certification at either the Gold or Platinum level, depending on the total number of optimizations achieved. Air. The standard for air establishes requirements to create optimal indoor air quality to support the health and well-being of building occupants, including: filtration, ventilation, moisture control, protection from endogenous pollution and construction protocols. Water. The standard for water promotes safe and clean water through proper filtration and other methods, requiring the appropriate quality of water for various uses, including: water quality, drinking water access and filtration. Nourishment. The standard for nourishment requires the availability of fresh, wholesome foods, limits unhealthy ingredients and encourages better eating habits and food culture, including: access to healthy foods, healthy portions, mindful eating, sanitary prep areas and food production. Light. The standard for light provides illumination guidelines that are aimed to minimize disruption to the body’s circadian system and enhance productivity and provide appropriate visual acuity where needed. It also requires specialized lighting systems designed to increase alertness, enhance occupant experience and promote sleep, including: activity-based levels, color quality, daylighting and glare control. Fitness. For fitness, the standard allows for the seamless integration of exercise and fitness into everyday life by providing the physical features and components to support an active and healthy lifestyle, including: exterior active design, interior active design, activity-based working, physical activity spaces and awareness and habits. Comfort. In terms of comfort, the standard establishes requirements designed to create a distraction-free, productive and comfortable indoor environment, including: thermal, acoustical, ergonomic, olfactory and accessibility. Mind. The standard for mind requires design that design and technology provide a physical environment that optimizes cognitive and emotional health, including: connection to nature, beauty, wellness awareness and protocols, feedback design, adaptable spaces, integrative design and social, equity and altruism. By taking a holistic approach to the built environment, we can address and improve people’s health and wellness at the center of design. We welcome the WELL Building Standard as a tool to design and build with a human-centered approach and look forward to its growth potential here in Colorado’s built environment.