WELL is premised on a holistic view of health: human health as not only a state of being free of disease – which is indeed a fundamental component of health – but also of the enjoyment of productive lives from which we derive happiness and satisfaction. Healthy spaces protect us from that which can make us sick, promote practices that can keep us well, and facilitate opportunities for us to connect with one another and live our lives to the fullest.

Principles of WELL v2
The development of WELL v2 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 scientific community.
Technically robust: Draws upon industry best practices and proven strategies, offering consistency in findings across the relevant field or discipline.
Customer-focused: Defines program requirements through a dynamic process, with multiple opportunities for stakeholder engagement, and by tapping the expertise of established leaders in science, medicine, business, design and operations.
Resilient: Responds to advances in scientific knowledge and technology, continuously adapting and integrating new findings in the field.

 

The WELL Building Standard sets 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.

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 105 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.

Wellness and Body Systems
Each feature of the WELL Building Standard is ascribed to the human body systems that are intended to benefit from its implementation. This enables project teams to classify the intended benefits of each WELL feature and develop a comprehensive set of strategies. While there are different ways to group the body’s various systems, the WELL Building Standard considers each feature’s impact on the following categories of body systems:
Cardiovascular System
Digestive System
Endocrine System
Immune System
Integumentary System
Muscular System
Nervous System
Reproductive System
Respiratory System
Skeletal System
Urinary System

PROJECT TYPES
The features of the WELL Building Standard® can be applied across many real estate sectors:
Core and Shell
New and Existing Interiors
New and Existing Buildings

WELL CERTIFICATION
Projects become certified if a sufficient number of features are satisfied. To maintain WELL Certification, projects must be recertified a minimum of every three years because building conditions can deteriorate over time to the point of adversely affecting the health and wellness of occupants.

WELL Scorecard
The WELL Scorecard is the aggregate of all of the WELL Scores for each Concept.

Image from https://www.wellcertified.com/

WELL Certification is valid for three years. In order to maintain a current certification, WELL Certified™ projects must undergo Performance Verification again and apply for recertification to verify that the building continues to perform in accordance with the requirements of the WELL Building Standard before the end of the three-year Certification period.

https://www.wellcertified.com/