What do we know about WELL?

Increase productivity & happiness – make your environment WELL

As traditional sustainability rating system such as LEED and BREEAM focus on the building process, procurement, energy consumption and reduction of carbon emissions the IWBI (International WELL Building Institute) certification scheme brings a fresh approach to sustainability, concentrating on ‘human sustainability’ and the benefits that building design can bring to Health & Wellbeing of us, their occupants.

As individuals we spend, during our lives, on average 90% of our time in the built environment. With this and the ever growing concern for mental health, thermal comfort and general health issues, the WELL standard sets out realistic targets and preconditions to design and implement an internal environment that supports our wellbeing. The standard focuses on:

·       Air quality

·       Water quality

·       Comfort

·       Lighting

·       Nourishment

·       Fitness

·       Mind

The standard aims to elevate our working, learning and living standards to reduce stress, combat mental health, improve productivity and create more comfortable healthy living conditions. The WELL standard also comes with close links to BREEAM and LEED where certain pre-conditions and requirements cross all standards giving an aligned approach for an energy efficient healthy building.

Fitwel

Fitwel provides tailored strategies for multifamily residential and workplace properties to optimize unique opportunities for each project.

The Fitwel Scorecards include 55+ evidence-based design and operational strategies that enhance buildings by addressing a broad range of health behaviours and risks. Each strategy is associated with unique point allocations, based on the strength of associated evidence and the demonstrated impact on occupant health. This means that strategies with stronger, multi-faceted impacts receive more points.

Fitwel addresses health as an interconnected system, with no single dominant category or area of focus, and as such all strategies are voluntary, with no individual prerequisites.

The categories cover:

·       Impacts community health

·       Reduces morbidity + absenteeism

·       Supports social equity for vulnerable populations

·       Instills feelings of wellbeing

·       Provides healthy food options

·       Promotes occupant safety

·       Increases physical activity

Both WELL and Fitwell offer factual research-based accreditation systems that focus on the promotion of better internal conditions.

As champions of the WELL movement and Ambassadors of FITWEL, we have huge faith in the benefits that this aspect of building design can bring to teams, workforces and communities.

Get in touch, we’d love to chat to you about it.