Building bridges between health and sustainability: How Casey Cullen-Woods transforms organizational impact

For Casey, the path to meaningful organizational change wasn’t found in choosing between environmental sustainability and employee well-being—it was discovered in their powerful intersection. As Global Sustainable Design and Operations Lead at Barclays, she initially approached the WELL Building Standard as another framework to understand. Her WELL AP journey revealed something transformative: health and well-being initiatives aren’t separate from sustainability goals—they’re essential to achieving them. Since earning her WELL AP credential in 2017, Casey has become a champion for integrated approaches that simultaneously advance environmental stewardship, workforce support and overall organizational strategy.

How did you first hear about the WELL AP? What made you interested in the credential?

I’ve known about the WELL program since soon after its inception. I recall some of the founding members of Delos presenting their new idea to the New York City Living Building Challenge Collaborative (of which I was a cofounder and facilitator) over ten years ago. As someone who works in the sustainable real estate and operations space, it made sense to pursue an accreditation to have the best understanding of the program and how to implement it across my projects.


What’s one way becoming a WELL AP has impacted your life and/or career?

I earned my WELL AP in 2017 and put it to work immediately in prior roles as Sustainability consultant, and then as a trusted advisor and ESG subject matter expert. I have been able to use WELL criteria as a benchmark for human health and wellbeing across a number of different workstreams- from building engineering to colleague engagement and food service.

Did anything about the WELL AP process surprise you—from registering for the exam to your experience post-accreditation? How would you prepare WELL AP candidates for that?

To be honest, as an environmental scientist I first took the WELL AP exam so I could explain to my clients why they shouldn’t pursue WELL. I wanted to drive LEED and triple bottom line strategies and regenerative design and was concerned they wouldn’t want to pursue multiple certifications. But WELL has been a supportive link in conversations with those who are on the fence about other sustainability programs. Everyone can agree on items that benefit people and their health and productivity. It’s lessened the gap I needed to close when trying to persuade third party verification of ESG ambitions.

What’s something about the WELL AP—or the WELL movement in general—that isn’t often discussed, but you think deserves more attention

Although WELL is not a sustainability certification in the traditional sense, sustainable buildings must be ones where people spend time. You can build the world’s most efficient windowless box and it achieve net zero goals- but if no one wants to live or work in that box, on day 1 or years down the road- you’ve failed to make a sustainable space. You’ve harvested resources and are demanding energy and infrastructure for something to be underutilized. We know that flexibility, safety, and connection to nature draw humans to certain spaces- programs like WELL help you do that consistently.


Is there a specific WELL concept, feature or set of features that have really resonated with you and that you’ve incorporated into your own life?

The Community concept- finding an employer who has such a strong alignment with the design and policy requirements is a game changer- and I believe strengthens our ability to attract and retain talent.

As a mom of two young children, two favorite features have been New Mother and Family support. Returning to work with a newborn was made immensely easier being able to bring her to our on-site daycare and have caregiving support at home when my regular arrangements weren’t available. Having this benefit and dedicated space for it creates a culture of support.


What projects do you have planned for the future? How will your WELL AP credential support the project’s success?

In my current role, we are WELL at scale Enterprise members, so we have a pipeline of projects pursuing ratings and certifications globally. While I am not the WELL consultant for those projects, my AP allows me to focus on identifying places where we can scale and succeed with policies across the portfolio. I’ll also be in regular contact with those projects to ensure they are maximizing opportunities to achieve high levels of certification.

Learn more about what it takes to become a WELL AP!