Is Your Building Healthy for People?
Green Buildings Need to Consider the People Inside As Well As the Environment
When many people hear the word “sustainability,” they think of the environment. It’s an important part of sustainability and sustainable buildings. But a sustainable building can and should go beyond considering only the environment while also creating spaces that focus on people’s health and wellness.
WELL Building Standard is one way to ensure you construct a people-first building. Since launching in 2014, it has used a science-based approach to transform buildings so they advance the health and well-being of the people who use them. WELL is a system that draws on evidence from multiple sources.
WELL v2 Covers 10 Concepts:
Air
Water
Nourishment
Light
Movement
Thermal Comfort
Sound
Materials
Mind
Community
When developing the WELL Health-Safety Rating (WELL HSR), the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) – the organization that developed and administers WELL Building certification and the WELL HSR – gathered a task force of nearly 600 scientists, government officials and other experts to help design a rating system addressing operational policies and design strategies after COVID-19. This deep research is a hallmark of the WELL HSR.
Here are Four Ways our Clients are Using WELL to Make Their Buildings Better.
1. Enhance Senior Living Communities
The population of people 65+ years old is expanding. From 2010 to 2020, this age group grew more than a third, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They all need somewhere to live, so residential communities for older adults are becoming more and more important.
Senior living has morphed over time. In the last 10 to 20 years, it has focused more on engaging residents, their families, and employees while creating a homier and healthier environment.
WELL certification supports those changes. It governs how these buildings are designed, constructed and operated over time. The certification takes into account daylight, testing for air and water quality, and nutrition. Designers can help with all of this by maximizing daylight in order to boost people’s mood and providing operational controls for an individual to adjust for comfort. Access to fresh air and raised garden beds further promote healthy living.
Thermal comfort is very important for residents to be happy with their environment. WELL has parameters for temperature, humidity and relative humidity to address this.
2. Improve Health Conditions for People in Indoor Spaces
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans spend an average of 90% of their time indoors, The concentrations of some pollutants can be 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations. People who are often most susceptible to the adverse effects of pollution, including older adults, tend to spend even more time indoors.
The biggest advantage of living or working in a WELL-certified building is that it will lessen these health effects. Whether it’s products for cleaning or pest control, WELL bans or specifies limits on chemicals known to be toxic. This enhances indoor air quality.
3. Increase Employee Satisfaction
WELL-certified buildings have increased employee satisfaction and retention, according to the Urban Land Institute. CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate services firm, has discovered this. The company’s offices in Toronto and Vancouver earned WELL certification. Features include circadian lighting that mimics daylight and a collaborative space for employees.
The effects are clear. CBRE says these offices have greater employee satisfaction, recruitment and retention. Statistics bear that out: the total employee turnover rate has decreased by almost one-third, and the hiring rate for new talent has doubled.
4. Maintain a building’s value
Having WELL certification helps sustain the value of a building over time. The building is more energy efficient over its lifespan because of WELL’s effects on elements from air to water. Plus, the testing and verification required to maintain that certification ensures that a building doesn’t falter as time goes on.
It can also build value for tenants. Employers with WELL-certified offices see fewer sick days and increased productivity, the World Green Building Council reports. This comes at minimal cost.
Cundall, an engineering consultancy, built a new office in London for 170+ employees. It focused on improved indoor air quality, including continuous monitoring of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds. WELL certification increased the project cost by 3.6%. But it saved the company £200,000 ($217,600) as employees took four fewer sick days per year and staff turnover was reduced by 27%. In less than two months of operation, the initial project costs had a return on investment.
Is WELL Right for You?
Whether WELL is the right choice for your building will depend on your goals. It’s important to align your building sustainability goals with your corporate sustainability goals.
Is your No. 1 to prioritize the health of those living and working in your building? WELL could be the answer. Are you focused on the built environment? You might turn to LEED certification.
GHP can help you navigate which sustainability certifications are right for you. We can assess your goals, location and other factors in order to notify you on which building certifications are the best fit for a particular project. The GHP team will then collaborate with you and your design team to achieve it.
Having a sustainable certification makes your building more valuable now and, in the future, as well as benefits the health of people in that building.
