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You’ve probably already heard of BREEAM or LEED certifications. But are you familiar with the WELL building standard?
Straight from the United States, it stands out with its approach focused on occupants’ needs and their relationship with their indoor environment. From indoor air quality (IAQ) to nutrition and access to outdoor spaces, nothing is left to chance. Discover all the details of this certification that promotes health and well-being!
Launched in 2014 by the International Well Being Institute (IWBI), WELL certification has been growing rapidly. In just 10 years, it has expanded to nearly 130 countries and now covers more than 450 million square meters.
This exponential growth is not surprising: WELL stands out for its human-centered approach.
Most sustainable building certifications focus primarily on energy performance and environmental impact. While the BREEAM and HQE standards include criteria that promote a healthy and comfortable environment, these aspects are not their primary consideration.
WELL, on the other hand, focuses on the well-being and the mental and physical health of the occupants. As a result, all of the criteria within the standard are geared towards improving living conditions in the workplace.
With approximately 74,000 projects certified or in the process of becoming certified, WELL estimates that it contributes to the health and well-being of some 25 million people.
| Note: far from being in competition, LEED and WELL can easily be combined. The two certifications have nearly 40 percent of the requirements in common, which makes them complementary to a certain extent.
WELL Building Standard certification is based on over a hundred criteria divided into 10 categories.
An additional “Innovation” category rewards the implementation of solutions that promote the creation of a healthier environment but do not conform to any of the categories.
There are two types of evaluation criteria :
To qualify for WELL certification, 100% of the requirements must be met. Optimizations, on the other hand, earn points that determine the level of certification.
To ensure a certain balance between the different fields assessed, no more than 12 optimization points can be accumulated per category.
| Note: The WELL certification is subdivided into several specific standards. For example, the Health-Safety Rating assesses the health and safety protocols implemented in buildings.
To apply for the WELL certification, you’ll need to pay a $3,000 registration fee. The fee then rises to $0.16 per square foot (with a minimum of $8,000 and a maximum of $98,000).
While the average cost of WELL is slightly higher than most other certifications, results show a significant return on investment with higher property values, improved occupant well-being and even an 8% increase in employee productivity.
The first step towards certification is to register on the WELL digital platform.
The project is then assigned to an auditor who is responsible for monitoring the project. In some cases, he or she will be accompanied by a performance auditor whose role is to assess compliance with the WELL criteria (e.g. air pollutant thresholds or light levels).
They will then write a report stating which elements have been approved and which need to be improved. If all requirements are met, certification is awarded.
| Note: it is possible (and recommended) to use the services of a WELL-accredited professional. These experts are experienced in implementing the approach, and can be a great help in supporting the project.
We spend a considerable number of hours at work. In this context, the quality of our indoor environment is of great importance. Air pollution, temperature and noise are all parameters that can affect us.
It’s no surprise, then, that numerous studies have shown a direct correlation between an unfavorable work environment and high absenteeism. In fact, dissatisfaction with the quality of life at work is the number one factor in absenteeism, according to a survey conducted by Ayming.
Yet, maintaining good indoor air quality for example, is enough to increase employee productivity and creativity, as well as reduce absenteeism.
| Note: the WELL recommendations provide a relevant roadmap to follow in order to create an environment conducive to well-being and performance. Certification therefore enables an improvement in QWL and can be a major asset when it comes to a CSR or ESG approach.
More generally, the benefits of environmental certification are numerous: they are commonly associated with improved brand image, talent attraction and retention, and real estate appreciation.
Today, WELL certification is one of the best ways to demonstrate your dedication to your building’s occupants. While this approach requires commitment in many areas, certain solutions allow you to validate multiple criteria.
Thanks to its predictive capabilities, INDALO® Supervision not only monitors but also maintains healthy air and good thermal comfort by controlling your HVAC installations. Our solution implements the best ventilation strategy to ensure optimal air renewal, limiting the presence of atmospheric pollutants, mold and bacteria.
Our solution also takes into account outdoor air quality and makes intelligent recommendations for opening windows in order to ventilate at the most opportune time.
Finally, INDALO® Supervision makes it easy to share your indoor environment indicators thanks to an educational display accessible from the platform or by QR code.
All these features allow you to achieve your WELL IAQ objectives. In addition, thanks to its ability to control heating and air conditioning, it is also possible to secure a number of criteria in terms of thermal comfort.
The WELL Building Standard can only be awarded to existing buildings. However, it is recommended that environmental and health aspects are taken into account at the design or renovation stage..
That’s why the WELL Core and Shell Standard encourages the adoption of sustainable practices even before the building is constructed. To this end, INDALO® simulates the indoor air quality of your future building right from the design or renovation phase. Our solution helps you to make the best choice of ventilation strategy and materials, while respecting the pollutant thresholds defined by WELL.
This way, you can guarantee good indoor air quality and avoid wasting energy on operating your ventilation system when it’s not needed.
In the renovation phase, INDALO® also allows you to validate certain criteria in the “materials” category (relating to the choice of building materials and control of the risk of viral infection).
I To sum up: our solutions can be used to validate most of the criteria related to the Air concept. They therefore make it way easier to achieve WELL certification!
