International WELL Building Institute Announces GRESB Recognition for WELL Real Estate and Operations Ratings

(New York/Paris, June 11, 2026) — The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the global authority for advancing healthy buildings, organizations and communities, today announced that GRESB has approved the WELL Real Estate Rating and WELL Operations Rating for full points under the GRESB Real Estate Assessment building certification section. The announcement was made on the occasion of IWBI’s Climate and Health Summit in Paris.

This marks an important milestone that offers variety in how real estate leaders can measure and report on their social sustainability performance through GRESB, the global ESG benchmark for real estate and infrastructure. By achieving full recognition, both the WELL Real Estate Rating and the WELL Operations Rating now provide a validated pathway for property companies, investors and asset managers to capture full credit for their health and well-being certification within the GRESB reporting framework.

“The WELL Real Estate Rating and WELL Operations Rating have already begun to empower real estate leaders to deliver on investor and tenant expectations,” said IWBI President and CEO Rachel Hodgdon. "GRESB’s recognition of these two ratings will further enable real estate leaders to seamlessly translate their commitment to healthier people and places into validated social sustainability performance.”

Launched earlier this year and specifically curated for the real estate sector, the WELL Real Estate Rating and the WELL Operations Rating, provide real estate companies and funds with a flexible, high-impact way to implement and scale health strategies across their entire portfolios. The WELL Real Estate Rating focuses on enhancing base building infrastructure while the WELL Operations Rating focuses on addressing base building operations and maintenance. From air ventilation and water quality to design elements that encourage movement and mindfulness, these ratings offer a practical pathway to measure and validate the health strategies most critical to base building performance. Derived from a subset of strategies in the WELL Standard (WELL), these ratings help real estate companies earn initial recognition while laying the foundation for full WELL Certification and other milestone achievements over time.

Increasingly, data-leading companies are embracing and utilizing the health components of WELL. To enable this, IWBI and GRESB have outlined how the GRESB Real Estate Assessment is supported by the WELL Standard through the GRESB Assessment Tool, which maps WELL features with GRESB indicators and sub-indicators. WELL aligns with 42 percent of the 2026 GRESB Assessment – and in 2024, WELL ranked among the top three building certifications used in GRESB reporting. Within the GRESB Building Certification Aspect, WELL Certification, WELL for residential, the WELL Real Estate Rating and the WELL Operations Rating are each worth a full point. The WELL Health-Safety Rating, the WELL Equity Rating, the WELL Performance Rating and the WELL Coworking Rating are each classified as a partial (.6) point.

This strong alignment between WELL and GRESB demonstrates the value WELL brings throughout the GRESB Assessment, especially when WELL is pursued across entire portfolios through the WELL at scale program. WELL at scale participants receive custom reports that translate their WELL achievements into GRESB submission language.

“Assets that achieve these ratings demonstrate a commitment to health, social sustainability and ESG performance,” said Kelly Worden, Vice President and Head of Social Sustainability, IWBI. “This latest recognition within GRESB highlights that investments in human health and well-being are increasingly recognized as central drivers of asset value and sustainability performance.”

The results of the rating achievements can be referenced in GRESB submissions, investor communications and sustainability reports. This development builds upon years of collaborative efforts to bridge the gap between asset-level health performance and fund-level sustainability reporting.

For more information and to enroll in the WELL Real Estate Rating or the WELL Operations Rating, please register your interest here.

About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the global authority for transforming health and well-being in buildings, organizations and communities. In pursuit of its public-health mission, IWBI mobilizes its community through the development and administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL), WELL for residential, WELL Community Standard, its WELL ratings and management of the WELL AP credential. IWBI also translates research into practice, develops educational resources and advocates for policies that promote people-first places for everyone, everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.

International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL EP, WELL Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Equity Rated, WELL Equity, WELL Coworking Rated, WELL Residence, Works with WELL, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.

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