WELL Tip: Insight on successful innovations
Innovation features promote the continuous evolution of the WELL Building Standard™ (WELL™). Projects can go beyond existing WELL feature requirements or propose a new intervention that addresses health and well-being in a novel way with Innovation features.
Pre-approved Innovation features
IWBI has published various pre-approved Innovation pathways for projects pursuing WELL v1, WELL v2™ pilot or WELL v2. In WELL v1, pre-approved Innovation features are posted as AAPs for Innovation features I01-I05. In WELL v2 pilot and WELL v2, pre-approved strategies are represented in features I02-I05.
Include a WELL AP on your project team
Projects pursuing WELL v1, WELL v2 pilot, or WELL v2 can achieve one Innovation feature point if a WELL Accredited Professional (WELL AP) is a member of the project team.
The WELL AP credential denotes expertise in WELL and a person’s commitment to advancing human health and well-being in people first places. If you have a WELL AP on your project team, it can benefit your team’s project planning, positively impact achievement efforts, and streamline the WELL application and certification process.
To meet this pre-approved Innovation, simply submit the project team member’s WELL AP certificate with your documentation submission.
Team members interested in becoming a WELL AP should consider using our WELL AP exam prep bundle package (for individuals or larger groups) and WELL AP practice tests.
Offer tours of your WELL Certified project
Projects pursuing WELL v1, WELL v2 pilot, or WELL v2 can earn an Innovation feature point if they offer free tours of their WELL Certified space. Projects must include a WELL educational component in conjunction with the tours, such as permanent signage throughout the space describing different WELL features, a case study surrounding WELL Certification, or a newsletter or other print/online publication to encourage occupant engagement with WELL. In order to earn the point for this feature, projects must offer a minimum of six tours per year, which may be on a predetermined schedule or upon request.
In order to receive approval for an active tour program, projects must provide IWBI with a tour script, tour destination descriptions and include at least one destination per WELL concept. Projects must also submit the following to IWBI on an annual basis: dates of tours (minimum of six per year), number of attendees (minimum of 50 per year) and evidence that the project is promoting the tours (e.g., social media, project website). Projects that are not able to offer on-site WELL tours due to security, confidentiality or safety concerns may offer virtual tours instead as indicated by AAP #00051 in WELL v2 pilot and WELL v2.
Below are examples of a few different WELL project tour offerings:
JLL Office at HKRI Taikoo Hui in Shanghai, China
JLL’s WELL Certified Platinum office is able to accommodate at least 5 tours each day, as they have received great interest from their clients and the general public since achieving WELL Certification.
Mirvac Headquarters in Sydney, Australia
Mirvac’s WELL Certified Gold office not only offers scheduled tours of their office, but also facilitates self-guided tours through an interactive mobile application.
Mirvac Headquarters, WELL Certified Gold
Delos Headquarters in New York City, United States
One of the major goals of Delos’ Headquarters office was to be a showcase of health and wellbeing office design. Therefore, Delos encourages community engagement by offering in-person tours and virtual tours. Visit the Delos website for more information.
Delos Headquarters, WELL Certified Platinum
Castellana 81, in Madrid, Spain
GMP’s WELL Core & Shell commercial office building offers in-person and virtual tours, which highlight the health strategies incorporated throughout the base building. More information can be found on their website.
Castellana 81, WELL Certified Gold
TD23 in Toronto, Canada
TD’s WELL Certified Gold office space is located in the Cadillac Fairview’s Core & Shell Certified TD Center. Request a tour of the space to learn more about the benefits of pursuing WELL for an interior project within a WELL Core & Shell building.
TD23, WELL Certified Gold
Arup Fit-Out, One Albert Quay in Cork, Ireland
Arup’s WELL Certified Gold office space demonstrates the impact of pursuing WELL through an interior fit-out.
Arup Fit-Out, One Albert Quay, WELL Certified Gold
Complete other health and well-being programs
IWBI awards an Innovation point through WELL v2 pilot and WELL v2 Feature I04: Gateways to Well-being. This pathway rewards projects that engage in additional commitments to health and well-being through third-party programs. A list of pre-approved programs can be found here.
Achieve dual certification by completing a green building rating system
WELL aligns with leading green building rating systems and recognizes projects that balance commitments to environmental sustainability and human health. Policies that reduce the environmental impact of buildings contribute to the advancement of human health at building and community-wide scales. The environment itself can promote health when it can provide fresh air, clean water, affordable food and accessible green spaces for physical activity and social connection. Therefore, projects can earn five points under WELL v2 pilot and WELL v2 I05 by demonstrating achievement of a Green Building Rating System found on this list.
Utilize the WELL skybridge tool
Table 2 of the WELL v1 to WELL v2 pilot skybridge tool includes a list of WELL v2 pilot features and/or parts that WELL v1 projects can pursue for Innovation points. Projects can achieve one WELL v1 Innovation feature point for meeting the WELL v2 pilot features and/or parts indicated in the table. Any project registered for WELL v1 can use this table.
Submitting new Innovation proposals
Projects are also permitted to submit Innovation proposals for features that are not listed within our existing versions of the WELL Building Standard. Below are examples of successful Innovation proposals submitted by WELL projects. Note that proposals approved under an older version of WELL (e.g., WELL v1) may not be accepted under a newer version (e.g., WELL v2) due to the addition of new features or feature requirements.
WELL v1: Projects can submit an Innovation proposal to receive credit for WELL v1 Features 101-105. To be considered for approval, projects should demonstrate that the proposed strategy is supported by scientific, medical and industry research.
Project example: Financial well-being programs.
Projects can substantially benefit mental health by providing occupants with financial planning tools for building resilience to financial stressors. NYU Langone Health’s corporate space (New York, NY, USA), for instance, submitted a proposal for the robust financial education programming they offer to employees. This programming covered topics such as financial planning, college savings, credit unions and emergency loans.
WELL v2 pilot: WELL v2 pilot projects may submit an innovation proposal through I01: Innovate WELL. To receive a point for this feature, projects must show that their strategy either goes above and beyond a current feature’s requirements or relates to health and well-being in a way that is not yet covered in WELL v2. The examples below highlight select projects with proposals that went above and beyond WELL v2 pilot features.
Kajima Technical Research Institute Main Complex - Research Building (Tokyo, Japan)
Kajima Technical Research Institute received an innovation point through the installation of a simulated sky within a windowless room. This submission went above and beyond M02: Provide Access to Nature, and M09: Provide Enhanced Access to Nature.
Kajima Technical Research Institute Main Complex - Research Building, WELL Certified at the Platinum level.
Hensel Phelps Office (California, USA)
Hensel Phelps Office went above and beyond Feature C01: Health and Well-Being Awareness, Part 2: Promote Health and Wellness Education when they provided onsite “WELLness” education at job-site trailers outside of the main project location. Construction job-site trailers consist of temporary make-shift structures that house employees for the duration of a project and often lack health and well-being programming. Through this project, the contractor utilized the fundamentals of WELL practice to extend health and well-being opportunities to a portion of their workforce in temporary offices who otherwise may not have benefited from the company’s WELL Certified headquarters.
WELL v2: WELL v2 projects may also submit an Innovation proposal through I01: Innovate WELL. Unlike WELL v2 pilot, submissions that exceed feature requirements for an existing WELL v2 feature do not qualify for an Innovation point in WELL v2. To earn a point for I01 in WELL v2, proposals must be novel and distinct from already existing WELL v2 features.
Get involved
As demonstrated by the creative design and policy strategies above, Innovation features encourage project teams to serve as industry leaders in people first places. As more projects achieve WELL Certification, these innovative strategies have grown our understanding and contributed to the body of evidence surrounding the impact of buildings on human health and well-being.
We hope the provided examples inspire you and your project team to think outside the box when brainstorming health and well-being strategies within your WELL project!
