WELL Certification
Putting the health and wellbeing of your building occupants first is fundamental in creating a desirable, healthy and productive environment. As a WELL Accredited Professional (AP), we can steer you through this new building standard and help you create a positive space for all of your occupants.
What is WELL?
The WELL Certification is a new building standard to assess the health and wellbeing impact on its users – relevant for any type of building or space, of any scale or location.
It employs a comprehensive approach to human health and wellness, addressing the elements of our built environment through seven concepts (Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Fitness, Comfort and Mind) and over one hundred features focused on behaviour, design and operations. It uses innovative research-backed strategies to improve health, happiness and productivity in buildings and communities.
Why is WELL important?
Whether it’s for business, sports or leisure, most of our lives are spent indoors and this has a lasting impact on our health.
Comfortable working environments can foster productivity and contribute to job satisfaction. Employees are the most valuable asset of a company, so providing a healthy environment is an integral part of a company’s commitment to its workforce.
By embedding health and human experience into design, a WELL Certified project has the potential to add measurable value to the health, wellbeing and happiness of building occupants.
Optimising health and wellbeing in buildings can be achieved by incorporating biophilic design throughout the project, such as green walls, water features, natural lighting and materials. Improving the quality of air, water and light can provide many health-related benefits including increased productivity and positivity and decreased levels of depression and absenteeism.
Market expectations for health and wellbeing
Since the pandemic has sparked increasing changes to building design, operation and maintenance, it’s becoming more apparent that existing strategies are not sufficient to provide a healthy working and living environment for building users.
There is a need for greater adaptability and innovation in building design, as well as implementing better management policies in workplaces; from providing ergonomic equipment and good acoustic workspace, to facilities to exercise, eat and take regular breaks. Current expectations extend beyond purely functional space to designs that are flexible, sustainable and healthy.
Our WELL expertise
Across the project design and construction phases, we guide our clients through the intricacies of the WELL standard to apply its features and achieve compliance. Our aim is to deliver spaces that enhance the occupant’s health and quality of life, along with creating a work environment that encourages productivity.
The length of time for WELL certification varies depending on certain variables i.e; the scope of the project, the WELL level targeted and the quality of the information. The basic WELL certification process can be summarised as:
- Registration: All projects must be registered through WELL online
- Documentation Review: Submission of all necessary documentation for review by International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). All documentation must be approved before the project may move to the next phase.
- Performance Verification: A site visit by IWBI or WELL PTO to ensure the project performs as intended
- Certification: Once all applicable requirements are met, the project is recognised as WELL Certified
- Re-certification:Â This is required every three years and includes another round of documentation submission and performance verification
WELL Accredited Professional Organisation
The WELL AP credential recognises building industry professionals who are knowledgeable of the conceptual and applied frameworks of WELL and are experienced in its application on registered and certified WELL projects.
We will help guide the project to successful certification or compliance awards. As the WELL AP, we will form part of the project team and act as your point of contact to address all necessary aspects of WELL.
To help our clients drive human and environmental sustainability, we also have experience with other accredited bodies such as Fitwel, BREEAM, Home Quality and LEED. Projects under these certifications include facilities such as rooftop running tracks, ergonomic workspaces, quiet rooms and fitness programmes for employees.