Questions and Answers about WELL (4 min read)

The following Q&A was published in Hotel Business in 2019. Because WELL is still not completely understood, I am republishing the gist of the article here:

How is WELL different from LEED certification?

WELL refers to the WELL Building Standard?, which was launched in October 2014 to encourage green and sustainable practices. It is a privately-operated organization and includes many of the same people who were initially involved with LEED many years ago.

On the other hand, LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, was established by the U.S. Green Building Council back in 1998. Because it is so much older than WELL, more hotel operators are apt to be familiar with this program and the LEED certification process. Further, many hotels in the U.S. are LEED certified today.

While the two organizations complement each other in many ways and have many similar goals, the fundamental difference between the two is that LEED focuses on buildings and WELL focuses on people.

Here are more things hotel operators should know about the two programs:

·??????Like LEED, WELL is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment and how they impact human health, productivity, and comfort.

·??????Whereas LEED is government-operated, WELL is not. It is operated by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), a “public benefit” corporation. This means it has shareholders who expect the corporation to make a profit. However, unlike a traditional corporation, a public benefit corporation has a specific social purpose, which in this case is to make the indoor environment healthier for people.

·??????Many LEED-certified facilities including hotels now use what are called ?sustainability dashboard tools to continually measure and monitor their use of fuel, water, energy, and other metrics. ?These dashboard tools help reduce operating costs. But they are also very valuable in helping to reduce consumption and waste as well.?While a WELL certified facility certainly can benefit from these systems if for no other reason than to lower operating costs, they are more building-focused, lending themselves to LEED certification.

·??????WELL uses medical and related data that explore the connection between buildings and the people who work at, learn in, and use those buildings. LEED is more focused on the building itself and how it is operated.

·??????Both organizations contract with Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) to certify facilities. This is an independent, third-party organization, not affiliated with either of the organizations.

·??????LEED-certified buildings are found around the world, and WELL is steadfast in pursuit of becoming an international organization as well. As of this writing, WELL has certified nearly 300 facilities: more than 125 in the U.S. and about 50 in China.

·??????When evaluating a property, WELL has seven categories or concepts they are most concerned with, some of which overlap with LEED. These are indoor air quality, water quality, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and what they refer to as "mind," relating to the overall well-being of building users.

What are some marketing advantages? Why would a property want this certification in addition to LEED?

What we are seeing throughout North America and in many parts of the world is a rush by leading organizations to become more environmentally responsible and more sustainability-focused.

The advantage for hotels is that becoming WELL certified is a marketing opportunity. Corporations around the world want to partner with vendors all on the same Green and Sustainability-focused team. ?

In other words, those hotels that are LEED certified and soon to be WELL certified will be ahead of the game and that should have marketing and financial benefits.

What are the criteria for receiving a WELL certification? What are the steps?

One of the best ways to explain the process of getting WELL certified is to review an example.?Here are some of the steps the Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL), a 24,350 square foot building in Pittsburg, PA took to address the requirements of each concept and get WELL certified.?

Air. The facility had to pass two indoor air quality checks, one before occupancy and one ten months later for verification purposes. Windows had to be operable, meaning they could manually open and close just like in the old days; no smoking was allowed; Green cleaning solutions had to be used to reduce the number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air; all interior furniture and finishing had to meet strict standards ensuring they generated no off-gassing during and after installation.

Water. To ensure safe drinking water and verify compliance, filtering systems were installed to make certain that water delivered to building users was not hard and did not contain any suspended solids, dissolved materials, chlorine, or fluoride.

Nourishment. These standards required that dietary information, advice, and tips be displayed in the building’s kitchen; staff were offered the use of an app to track their nutrition; the kitchen stocked 100 percent organic fruits and vegetables, hormone- and antibiotic-free, and vegetarian fed meat and dairy products for their staff.

Light. The entire facility was designed to provide ample natural light to complement our circadian systems (our internal clock) and sleep cycles. To accomplish this, furnishings were all designed to help reflect light, and lighting systems were tested to ensure they addressed required light levels throughout the day.

Fitness. The goal of this concept, according to the WELL standard, is “the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and respond to emergencies.” To accomplish this, CSL created walking and biking paths around the facility; encouraged staff to use stairs instead of the elevator in the building; installed a fitness center and shower area.

Comfort. A common complaint of many building users is noise.?Because of this, and to be WELL certified, CSL made sure walls were insulated and steps were taken to absorb sound throughout the facility. Further CSL provided their staff with personal humidifiers, fans, standing desks, and adjustable chairs.

Mind. A personalized way CSL addressed this concept was to install an online library and resource center available only to staff.?The resource center provided books, articles, graphics, and other information to help their staff find the information needed to perform their work as quickly and easily as possible.

The WELL certification is quite comprehensive. My suggestion to hotel operators wanting to get involved in the WELL program is that they work with a consultant familiar with both the LEED and the WELL program.?

How many hotels are currently WELL certified? Is it receiving pushback? Why/why not? (Note: as of 2019)

The first hotel to be WELL certified is in a city near Amsterdam and is part of the Marriott hotel chain. ?According to WELL’s website, at this time, there are more than 1500 projects involved in the WELL program today in 48 different countries involving more than 300 million square feet.?

The only pushback that could be possible is that there is a cost to becoming WELL certified, but the return on the investment far surpasses this cost.

It is interesting to note that the first hotel is part of the Marriott chain. This indicates that Marriott believes the WELL program has potential and may prove to be an asset for the company as more of its hotels become WELL certified.

Finally, what are common problems you're seeing in the hotel space that prevent the certification?

This likely could be another similarity between LEED and WELL.?In many cases, it is far easier for a newer property to become LEED certified than it is for an older property.?It is expected that this might be true when it comes to WELL certification, however, these issues can be overcome.

?Stephen P. Ashkin is president of The Ashkin Group, a consulting firm specializing in Green cleaning and sustainability, and CEO of Sustainability Dashboard Tools LLC, for measuring and monitoring sustainability with the goal of protecting natural resources and reducing facility operating costs. ?He has been directly involved with the LEED program since its beginning, is on the Board of the Green Sports Alliance, and has been inducted into the International Green Industry Hall of Fame (IGIHOF).?He can be reached at [email protected]