WELL Building Standard and Air Quality

The WELL Air concept aims to improve indoor air quality in buildings through various strategies, as people spend most of their time indoors.

Indoor air pollutants can cause various health issues ranging from minor symptoms to severe illnesses. Achieving clean indoor air requires eliminating pollution sources, proper ventilation, and modifying human behavior.

The WELL Air concept promotes holistic design strategies for better productivity, well-being, and health. And is 1 of 10 themes it focuses on.

Under the WELL standard, Air has 4 Preconditions to qualify for the standard and 10 Optimizations These are

Lets take a brief look at the 4 preconditions

A01 AIR QUALITY feature of WELL aims to provide healthy indoor air quality for building occupants.

Exposure to air pollutants such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and radon can cause respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, leading to thousands of cancer deaths annually.

To minimize the risk of health issues, public health authorities have established permissible levels of "criteria" air pollutants. Achieving clean indoor air requires collaboration between building professionals and users through different strategies such as source control, building design, and operation, and human behavior interventions.

A02 Smoke-Free Environment WELL feature requires projects to ban indoor smoking and restrict or ban outdoor smoking on their premises.

Exposure to tobacco smoke, including second and thirdhand smoke, causes serious health issues, such as asthma attacks, respiratory infections, and lung cancer. The only way to protect people from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke is to implement a 100% smoke-free environment.

This includes taking steps to prevent cigarette smoke from entering the building through operable windows, air intakes, and entrances. Despite the health risks, most of the global population lives in countries without smoke-free regulations.

A03 Ventilation Design feature requires buildings to provide adequate ventilation through mechanical or natural means to minimize indoor air quality problems caused by pollutants from human activities and products.

Poor ventilation can lead to symptoms of sick building syndrome, including headaches, fatigue, and respiratory issues, and can have economic costs such as increased employee absenteeism and decreased productivity.

Providing sufficient ventilation is crucial for maintaining healthy indoor environments and air quality, and requires regular maintenance for mechanical ventilation systems and consideration of outdoor air quality for natural ventilation.

A04 Construction Pollution Management WELL feature aims to minimize the impact of construction-related pollutants on indoor air quality during building construction and renovation.

Construction pollution can have negative impacts on the health and quality of life of people working and residing nearby. Strategies such as envelope protection, moisture and dust management, filter replacement, air flush, and proper equipment selection can help improve indoor air quality and limit exposure to pollutants. Care should be taken during construction to prevent dust intrusion and clear the space of dust and other debris to avoid significant aggravation of indoor air quality.

For more information on The Well Building Standard follow https://www.wellcertified.com/

Also feel free to drop me a line, Im always happy to discuss, as a Well AP.