WELL Community Standard™ Taking Shape

NEW YORK, February 27, 2017 /3BL Media/ – The International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™) today reported on the progress of development of the WELL Community Standard™, noting that its Working Group Members and contributors are providing the kind of industry perspective that bodes well for the standard’s global uptake.   The WELL Community Standard™ will be a district-scale rating system centered exclusively on health and wellness and aims to set a new global benchmark for healthy communities. The pilot is planned to be launched later this year.

The development of the WELL Community Standard focuses on evidence-based research and understanding requirements for community health and wellness to derive appropriate, actionable strategies and interventions. WELL Community Standard Working Group Members and contributors have been instrumental in refining program operations and providing expert content recommendations for community features, parts and requirements as well as other market feedback and review throughout the development process.  They include Arup, Gale International, Hart Howerton, HKS, McLennan Design, Shanghai UBPA and the Shanghai Research Institute of Building Science, Tropicana Field Conceptual Master Plan Project in St. Petersburg, Fla., and the U.S. Green Building Council, in addition to a host of subject matter experts in the fields of architecture, urban planning, and engineering.

“Our distinguished Working Group members have been in the vanguard of leaders helping us take the next step in the healthy building movement as we take the WELL Building Standard to the community level,” said Rick Fedrizzi, Chairman and CEO of IWBI. “Their insight has been invaluable, and we are looking forward to sharing the resulting product with the broader market when we officially launch the WELL Community Standard later this year.”

The WELL Community Standard™ will build on the existing principles and foundation of IWBI’s WELL Building Standard™ (WELL), a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of buildings and communities that impact human health and wellness through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind, and will also incorporate features specific to new urban-scale categories. So far, WELL has seen rapid expansion since its launch, with over 350 projects registered or certified encompassing over 73 million square feet in 28 countries worldwide.

About the International WELL Building Institute™
The International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™) is a public benefit corporation whose mission is to improve human health and wellness through the built environment. Public benefit corporations like IWBI are an emerging U.S. structure for corporations committed to balancing public benefits with profitability – harnessing the power of private capital for greater good. IWBI administers the WELL Building Standard™ (WELL) – a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of buildings that impact the health and wellness of the people who live, work, and learn in them. Fulfilling the vision of IWBI Founder Paul Scialla, IWBI has a pioneering altruistic capitalism model that will address social responsibility and demonstrate a sustainable model for philanthropy. IWBI has committed to direct 51 percent of net profits, after taxes, generated by registration fees, certification fees and recertification fees received from real estate projects applying for WELL Certification toward charitable contributions and impact investment focused on health, wellness and the built environment. IWBI was established by Delos in 2013 pursuant to a Clinton Global Initiative commitment to improve the way people live by developing spaces that enhance occupant health and quality of life by sharing the WELL Building Standard globally. www.wellcertified.com

About the WELL Building Standard™
The WELL Building Standard™ (WELL) is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact the health and wellness of the people who live, work, and learn in the buildings. WELL focuses on seven categories of building performance: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind. Pioneered by Delos, the WELL Building Standard is grounded in evidence-based research that demonstrates the connection between the buildings where people spend more than 90 percent of their time and those buildings’ health and wellness impacts on their occupants. The WELL Building Standard is administered by the International WELL Building Institute™ and third-party certified by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). www.wellcertified.com

Press Contact:
IWBI                                                                          
Callie Stanton                                                 
646.654.3438                                                             
cstanton@nikecomm.com