What is the WELL Building Standard and what does it mean for you as an architect?

"WELL rated buildings will be the new LEED"

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“As design professionals, we need to be ensuring that the buildings we design are of the highest standards for the occupants ”

I first heard about WELL in this New York Times article and was hooked on the concept. I believe strongly that healthy design in paramount for improving the health and wellness of a fat, sick and aging population before its too late. So let me break it down for you:

What is the WELL Building Standard?

“The WELL Building Standard® (WELL) is the world’s first building standard focused exclusively on human health and wellness”. It aims to tie together design, construction and scientific based research to ensure our built environment supports human health and well-being.

Introduced by Delos in 2013 following seven years of medical research that explores “the connection between the buildings and where we spend more than 90% of our time, and the health and wellness impacts on us as occupants”, the WELL Building Standard sets performance standards in seven categories: Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Fitness, Comfort and Mind; the idea being that WELL designed spaces help create an environment that supports nutrition, fitness, sleep patterns, mood and performance of its occupants.

But let me break it down further.

The WELL Building Standard Version 1.0 applies to new construction, major interior renovations, tenant improvements, and ‘core and shell developments’ in commercial and institutional buildings. There is also a pilot program for multifamily residential, retail, educational facilities, restaurants and commercial kitchens, exercise facilities, public assembly and healthcare. Within the standard, there are 102 individual elements sorted into the seven categories listed above.

Depending on the building type, you will have a variety of elements that are ‘pre-conditions’ or ‘optimizations’ to achieve to receive either silver, gold or platinum certification [expect for core and shell that receives compliance only once all preconditions and one optimization from each concept is achieved].

The base level for new & existing buildings and new & existing interiors is Silver certification, which is achieved by meeting all preconditions. Failure to meet all preconditions means automatic failure of the project to achieve WELL standards. Projects can then move up the ladder by hitting more optimizations; 40% will get you Gold and 80% of optimizations met will reach Platinum Certification.

Now this might sound overly complicated, and let me tell you the literature that you have to study if you wish to become WELL AP certified (I have sat the exam and now waiting on results which take 3-4 MONTHS!) is onerous AT BEST. But once you register your project you will be assigned a WELL Assessor who will help guide you through the process from start to finish, ensuring your team a smooth path to certification if you engage their design suggestions.

So how will this change the future of design?

Well for one it should help ensure companies looking to create a more productive and vibrant workplace or developers looking to provide a health conscious apartment building will spend more time considering the impact of certain design decisions on their end users.

As design professionals, we need to be ensuring that the buildings we design are of the highest standards for the occupants, be it productive workplaces or restful homes. We cannot have a healthy, vibrant and productive society if people are lethargic and drained because their living or working environment is causing them to feel fatigued.

It may seem like an over-reaction- to say that the responsibility of occupant health is that of the building designers and construction professionals, but I strongly believe that is the case. If we as designers choose toxic materials, design poorly lit spaces or specify fenestration inappropriate for the noise or moisture levels of the site - we ARE responsible for the way that will impact the end user, and to deny that is to be irresponsible.

As I work to tie my architectural experience, WELL study (and fingers crossed WELL AP accreditation) and my health and nutritional study together, I hope to encourage other design professionals to look at ways their spaces can encourage healthy life choices also. Together we CAN influence the choices people make and those choices need to be intentional, productive and for the better health of themselves and in turn, the planet.

WELL rated buildings will be the new LEED as staff and apartment owners look for the next higher standard in living and working. No longer is it good enough to be in a shitty, dark and dank office building – people are demanding more and the best will no longer settle; and I say it’s about god damn time.

#wellnessarchitect #WELLbuildingstandard #architecture