Evolution and Implementation of the WELL Health-Safety Rating

The WELL Health-Safety Rating launched one year ago, and since then, more than 20,000 projects enrolled in the program. In that time, based on new research and best practices, we introduced several new pathways for projects to achieve the target of 15 features.

In September 2020, WELL v2 graduated out of pilot, following a unanimous vote of approval by the Governance Council. Most of the features in the Health-Safety Rating also appear in WELL v2, which makes the rating a great stepping stone on the journey to WELL Certification, or an additional award that projects already seeking certification can target. These features are clearly laid out in an alignment tool, which also enables projects to streamline their documentation submission and avoid submitting duplicate documents. This allows projects that have achieved the WELL Health-Safety Rating to automatically earn points for the corresponding features in the WELL Building Standard when targeting WELL Certification or participating in WELL Portfolio.

We also updated the Design for WELL Health-Safety Innovation pathway to include features from WELL v2 in addition to those already published for WELL v2 pilot. And we added a new innovation feature, SI4: Gateways to Health-Safety, to reward projects which have also achieved other third-party certifications on a related topic.

We also added two new features within the existing WELL Health-Safety themes. First, SC5: Reduce Respiratory Particle Exposure was added as part of the launch of WELL v2, and covers strategies to increase distance between people in the building and adopt face coverings or personal protective equipment.

More recently, as the vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 has become available and testing capacity has improved, we’ve expanded on SE6: Plan for Healthy Re-Entry. A new feature rewards projects that restrict entry to those who have been vaccinated—in locations where vaccines are readily available—and/or have received a negative COVID-19 test. This addition was not taken lightly; the vaccine is one of the most important ways to end the pandemic and has saved over 11,000 lives in the U.K. as of May 2021 and 279,000 lives in the U.S. as of July 2021.

Recognizing this, we also modified Feature SH4 to allow projects to promote and provide vaccinations for diseases other than the seasonal flu. Projects can now select any immunization relevant to the target population, including influenza but also COVID-19. Acknowledging that some of the hesitancy to take the COVID-19 vaccine arises from concern about side effects, this feature now requires paid time off to recover from vaccination.

Finally, we have been impressed with the variety of strategies submitted by projects pursuing the WELL Health-Safety designation over the last year. Some of these are timely applications of existing features such as using the project site as a mass-vaccination clinic, thereby meeting the requirement in Feature SE5: Bolster Emergency Resilience of having a space for “alternative use in case of emergency.” Other project proposals go beyond what is currently included in WELL Health-Safety features, and these cutting-edge strategies have been rewarded as Innovations. The following is a list of some innovative and emerging strategies that projects have implemented based on their needs and priorities in the fight against COVID-19:

• Providing employees with a supply of at-home rapid antigen tests free of cost.
• Implementing a contact tracing and notification system for all occupants and visitors to the building.
• Employing air flow modeling or testing to determine the potential spatial distribution of viral particles through a building’s mechanical system.
• Undertaking wastewater testing for viral residuals and establishing an action plan in the event of positive results.

Many of these themes and topics are marked by a rapid evolution of science and technology, presenting exciting opportunities for leadership. Before a new strategy is added as a feature in the WELL Building Standard, its scientific basis must be available and the strategy must be feasible to implement around the globe and across sectors. We encourage projects to consider these and other strategies as Innovations in their pursuit of the rating and look forward to seeing how projects continue to promote the health and safety of their occupants over the next year.