Enhancements to WELL

The WELL Building Standard (WELL Standard) undergoes regular maintenance to ensure the rigor, feasibility and impact of the program. During this process, IWBI publishes changes that aim to clarify standard language, streamline the WELL program, enable projects to pursue novel pathways and more. The vast majority of changes made to the WELL Standard are intended to present language in a clearer way, based on feedback received from the WELL community. Occasionally, and often based on new evidence, we make more substantive adjustments to the program that impact the way that a feature is implemented, documented or evaluated.

We consider multiple streams of input when determining what changes to make to WELL. We learn from projects implementing the WELL program in spaces around the world; listen to input from IWBI advisors and working groups; stay abreast of evolving research, standards and best practice; and are in constant conversation with the WELL community to understand how the WELL program can be more rigorous, feasible and impactful.
This feedback is considered by IWBI’s Standard Development Team and, before changes are approved and incorporated, all proposals go through a rigorous internal review process. You can find a detailed change log here.

Q1 2024 Addenda Overview

Scope reduced:

• WELL Performance Verification Guidebook: For devices used to measure various air, water and thermal comfort parameters, measurement ranges were made larger. This results in a broader set of test instruments that meet WELL requirements.

• WELL v2 Features L01 Light Exposure and L05 Daylight Design Strategies: Projects may now make daylight calculations based on the entire project as a whole, rather than demonstrating compliance on each individual floor.

• WELL v2 Feature T09 Outdoor Thermal Comfort: The strategy now clarifies that outdoor shading is required for at least 25% of key spaces (e.g., plazas, seating areas) rather than a range of 25-75%.

New pathways available:

• WELL v2 Feature A09 Pollution Infiltration Management: Projects may utilize design strategies to remove dirt from occupant’s shoes in addition to strategies already established in the feature (such as grilles, grates, slots, rollout mats and carpet tiles).

• WELL v2 Feature W02 and WELL Performance Rating Feature PW2: For projects in jurisdictions that allow for trihalomethane and/or haloacetic acid thresholds that are higher than what is called for in WELL, a new AAP is now available that enables those projects to achieve this feature using those thresholds instead by demonstrating disinfectant byproduct levels do not increase within the building.

Documentation change:

• For single locations enrolled specifically for certification, photographs may now be taken by members of the WELL project team (or the WELL Performance Testing Agent, as previously allowed). With this change, photographs can now be submitted as part of the documentation review prior to performance verification. Previously, this was only available to locations enrolled in WELL at scale or Ratings.

Beta strategies:

• A unanimous vote by the IWBI Governance Council confirmed that 10 beta strategies can be fully incorporated into the WELL Standard because they meet the four tenets of WELL features: evidence-based, verifiable, implementable and presented for outside input. This includes:
  • N14β Red and Processed Meats – Part 1
  • V11β Ergonomics Programming – Part 1 and Part 2
  • S08β Enhanced Audio Devices – Part 1 and Part 2
  • X12β Contact Reduction – Part 2
  • I06β Carbon Disclosure and Reduction – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4

• Prior to incorporation, minor updates were made to beta strategy language for clarity.
• Projects will no longer have to submit a beta feature feedback form as a verification method type when pursuing these graduated strategies.

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How can my project or organization use updated feature language?
If you’re looking to leverage newer language for a specific WELL feature, simply make a note in your documentation submission. To benefit from a more streamlined user experience and smoother documentation reviews, consider upgrading your entire account to a newer version. Explore our tutorial to get started or reach out to IWBI via your Support Tab in the WELL platform.

Questions?
Want to learn more about this quarter’s addenda? Contact our support team via your Support Tab in WELL Online. Customers who are not yet enrolled in WELL may contact us by filling out this form.