Oct 21 2014
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) today launched the WELL Building Standard® Version 1.0 at the inaugural WELL Building Symposium in New Orleans. The WELL Building Standard is the world’s first building standard to focus on enhancing people’s health and wellbeing through the built environment.
Following a two-year pilot program and a formal Peer Review process, the WELL Building Standard is now publicly available at: www.WELLcertified.com.
“The public release of the WELL Building Standard v1.0 marks a momentous step forward in our efforts to bring health and wellness into the indoor environments where we spend more than 90 percent of our time,” said IWBI Founder Paul Scialla. “Through the launch of WELL v1.0, we are creating a clear intersection for the wellness, sustainability, and real estate communities to come together to support human health through the built environment globally.”
Created through seven years of rigorous research and development working with leading physicians, scientists, and industry professionals, the WELL Building Standard is a performance-based certification system that marries best practices in design and construction with evidence-based medical and scientific research – harnessing the built environment as a vehicle to support human health and wellbeing. WELL v1.0 sets performance requirements in seven categories relevant to occupant health and wellbeing: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind.
Administered by IWBI, the WELL Building Standard is third-party certified through IWBI’s collaboration with the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), which administers 10+ billion square feet of LEED buildings and the 190,000+ person LEED AP program globally, ensuring that WELL works seamlessly with LEED. The WELL Building Standard v1.0 is optimized for commercial and institutional buildings and can be applied to new construction and major renovations, tenant improvements, and core and shell developments. For inquiries and information or to register a project for WELL Certification, please visit http://www.WELLcertified.com.
“Our mission is to bring human health to the forefront of building practices and reinvent buildings so they are not only better for the environment, but also for the people in them,” said IWBI Senior Vice President Michelle Moore. “It’s an important point of inflection for our market and our movement. Historically, sustainability has focused on the impact that buildings have on our climate and environment. Bringing wellness into the conversation adds a new emphasis on the individual, and opens up the field for research and development.”
V1.0 of the WELL Building Standard underwent a thorough and transparent Peer Review process at the conclusion of its two-year pilot program. The peer review included three phases – a scientific, practitioner, and medical review. In alignment with IWBI’s commitment to transparency, aggregated comments received during peer review will be published online.
To date, approximately 7.7 million square feet of commercial, institutional, and multifamily real estate has been registered for certification through WELL. Certified projects include CBRE Group’s new Global Corporate Headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, which was WELL Certified™ under the pilot program in November 2013. CBRE’s global headquarters represents the first commercial office building in the world to be both LEED Gold and WELL Pilot Certified. The William Jefferson Clinton Children’s Center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is another leading project from the pilot program. Named in honor of President Clinton, the children’s center and orphanage will be LEED Platinum Certified and is pursuing WELL Pilot Certification. Other projects which have achieved WELL Pilot Certification include the Phipps Center for Sustainable Landscapes in Pittsburgh, PA, and LYFE Kitchen restaurants in Tarzana, CA, Chicago, IL and Denver, CO.
About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation (B-Corp) whose mission is to improve human health and wellbeing through the built environment. B-Corps like IWBI are an emerging US corporate structure for corporations committed to balancing public benefits with profitability – harnessing the power of private capital for greater good. IWBI currently offers WELL Building Certification, and in early 2015 will launch professional education, supporting publications, and the WELL Accredited Professional program. Fulfilling the vision of IWBI founder Paul Scialla, IWBI has a pioneering altruistic capitalism model that will address social responsibility and demonstrate a sustainable model for philanthropy. The IWBI has committed to direct 51% of net profits received from WELL Building Certification project fees toward charitable contributions and impact investment focused on health, wellness, and the built environment. IWBI was founded by Delos pursuant to a Clinton Global Initiative commitment by Delos founder Paul Scialla to improve the way people live by developing spaces that enhance occupant health and quality of life by sharing the WELL Building Standard globally.
About the WELL Building Standard®
The WELL Building Standard® is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact the health and wellbeing of the people who live, work, and learn in them. WELL focuses on seven categories of building performance: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind. Pioneered by Delos, the WELL Building Standard is grounded in evidence-based medical research that demonstrates the connection between the buildings where we spend more than 90 percent of our time and health and wellness impacts on us as occupants. The WELL Building Standard is administered by the International WELL Building Institute and committed to third-party certification through IWBI’s collaboration with the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).
Source: http://wellcertified.com