Health and well-being are the primary focus of organizations that care to meet WELL Building Standards. If you are ready to meet the qualifications for becoming a WELL Building, you need to understand the seven concepts for WELL Building certification.

When your organization focuses on the well-being of its staff, you foster an environment centered around employee experience (EX). By doing so, your team members can be more engaged and perform better. 

If you want to help improve employee performance, foster a healthy work environment, and enhance your staff's EX, then you need to consider qualifying for the WELL Building Standards certification. Let's take a moment to discover the seven concepts that your organization must focus on. 

Key Takeaways:

• The WELL Building Standards focuses on providing spaces for employees centered around their health and well-being.

• Seven key concepts guide the principles for what organizations qualify for these standards, including air quality, lighting, and comfort among others.

• WELL Assessors check five performance verification points before certifying a building as a WELL Building.

What is the WELL Building Standard?

The WELL Building Standard is a new certification that will revolutionize the way people think about sustainable design. It provides an innovative, holistic approach to building sustainability and features aspects such as water management systems for plumbing fixtures.

This process does more than just conserve resources. It ensures long-term comfort by maintaining optimum indoor air quality, natural lighting to enhance comfort, and fitness to promote health and wellness.

Now, more than ever before, employees and organizations recognize the importance of wellness in the workplace. Every generation is now striving for better overall health and wants to develop a work environment that fosters this new focus. 

For that reason, it's time for you to consider what it would take to qualify for the WELL Building Standards.

Qualifying for the WELL Building Certification: 7 Concepts of Wellness Standards

Seven concepts make up the standard principles for qualifying as a WELL Building. This performance-based system measures and monitors the established environment that affects human health and well-being. There are three levels of certification, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

Source:  https://standard.wellcertified.com/scoring 

1. Air

The WELL Building Standard for improving air quality and minimizing indoor pollution does so by utilizing natural resources, such as ventilation systems or materials with reduced chemical exposure. 

Requirement for businesses that have a WELL-accredited certification includes banning the use of any smoking product indoors, including vape and e-cigarettes. Furthermore, managers and business owners pursuing a WELL certification must provide protocols for cleaning and air filtration. 

2. Water

WELL certification demands the accessibility and quality of water for all occupants. For instance, WELL features involve offering clean filtered drinking water to every desk with a dispenser or cooler nearby. 

Some organizations use high-tech options, such as a free-standing water cooler that utilizes UV light to provide clean and healthy drinking water. Many companies also offer glass and bottle fillers that provide fresh drinking water while reducing waste. 

3. Nourishment

The WELL Building Standard includes a section on healthy eating habits, fresh food availability, and preparation. This part of the standard limits highly processed foods that are not good for your health. It also supports mindful consumption by limiting these types of food options in vending machines and cafeterias.

Furthermore, it promotes food safety standards and the availability of nutrition information. Many restaurants have taken the initiative one step further and provide this information not only to employees but to customers as well.

4. Light

It's hard to avoid headaches and eyestrain when the lighting levels are too bright. When you have poor or limited natural light, your eyes can become strained. However, adjusting indoor illumination with better quality bulbs helps reduce overall discomfort, which leads employees to be more productive during work hours.

Also, when people spend time indoors in artificial light conditions, this impacts their circadian rhythms. It can directly affect sleep quality. WELL standards provide illumination guidelines to help organizations with optimizing their building lighting for the wellbeing of their staff.

5. Fitness

Sitting in one position for more than eight hours a day with no physical activity can result in health conditions such as high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and an increased risk of obesity. 

The WELL Building Standard helps deal with these risks by encouraging movement through design which supports the adoption of furniture with ergonomic features like desks that rise for standing. WELL Standard #73 focuses on this initiative.

It also encourages fitness through promoting active lifestyles outside an office setting and taking the stairs instead of the elevator inside the office.

6. Comfort

A comfortable working environment offers access to facilities, ergonomic furniture, and appropriate noise levels. Employees who are comfortable at work can be more productive.

However, for employees with high stress levels, loud sounds can heighten anxiety. Furthermore, extremely low and high temperatures affect a person's ability to concentrate. 

A comfortable work environment with reduced noise levels and moderate temperatures promotes an environment where employees can feel relaxed and work more productively.

7. Mind

The indoor environment can influence mental wellness, and your organization should strive to lower stress levels, improve moods, and boost overall health. WELL Building Standards supports this idea by promoting building design policies to minimize work-related anxiety in mind, which leads to a healthy environment promoting good brain function.

Chicago Faucets Can Help You Qualify for WELL Building Standards

When qualifying for WELL Building Standards certification, there are five elements an assessor will evaluate. These performance verifications span all seven of the WELL Concepts and the process includes spot checks and performance tests. 

At Chicago Faucets, we understand the importance for your organization to meet the WELL Building Standards. Like you, we care about the health and well-being of your employees. 

For more than 120 years, we have focused on providing products centered around sustainability and the overall wellness of the planet. As a U.S. Green Building Council member, we promote efficiency and conservation. 

Create an atmosphere of health and well-being for your staff. Contact us to learn how we can help you meet the WELL Building Standards.