WELL Building standards

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Author Message Robin E. Snyder Senior Member Username: robin Post Number: 601 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Monday, June 08, 2015 - 12:34 pm:    Anyone worked with this program? What are the implications for specifications? Lisa Goodwin Robbins, RA, CCS, LEED ap Senior Member Username: lgoodrob Post Number: 276 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Monday, June 08, 2015 - 01:17 pm:    Robin, I'm on my third Living Building Challenge project, but no one has asked for WELL yet. Keep us posted. - Brian Salazar LEED AP BD+C New member Username: entegragreen Post Number: 1 Registered: 05-2016 Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 09:11 am:    Hi! I'm new here, but found this page while searching for some information on the WELL Building Standard. We are beginning to explore WELL and what it will mean for design and management of buildings going forward. The program looks to be gaining a lot of momentum here in the northeast. In many respects it picks up where LEED ends, and has the promise of providing a lasting connection between building occupants and issues of wellness and sustainability. In terms of specifications, the most obvious connection is with indoor material selections, very similar to LEED IEQ credits 4.1-4.5 Most, if not all, material categories in WELL are intended to meet the same SCAQMD standards as LEED. I look forward to learning more from this group as WELL matures. Entegra Development & Investment, LLC www.entegra-re.com @entegragreen Lisa Goodwin Robbins, RA, CCS, LEED ap Senior Member Username: lgoodrob Post Number: 294 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 10:10 am:    Hi Brian, Welcome to 4specs.com! WELL looks like a really interesting program, with lots of overlap between LEED and LBC. One year later, still none of our clients have asked for this. Sorry I don't have more to share. - Brian Salazar LEED AP BD+C Member Username: entegragreen Post Number: 3 Registered: 05-2016 Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 10:38 am:    Hi Lisa - There's not as much overlap as you might think. It's more of a "hand off." WELL really gets into the day to day building operations, behavioral change, and change-management issues that plague LEED projects post occupancy. As in, "How to keep the client engaged in sustainability after the plaque is hung on the wall?" We are seeing interest percolate here in the Boston area with the massive influx of new hi-tech, pharma, and healthcare facilities popping up all over the landscape. WELL seems to dovetail more with corporate Wellness programs that fly under the HR or Communications departments than it does LEED and the facilities teams. But there's a lot of collaboration between all of those groups to make the programs successful. At a recent panel discussion here in Boston, one of the project managers who has completed 2 WELL projects (Haworth showrooms) stated that occupants actually ask about WELL and get involved in the building performance metrics for air quality or their own metrics for health and fitness. But none of the occupants have asked about LEED or what it means. Interesting times.... Entegra Development & Investment, LLC www.entegra-re.com @entegragreen Vivian Volz, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: vivianvolz Post Number: 159 Registered: 06-2004 Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - 07:47 pm:    Hi, Brian and Lisa, I'm working on my first WELL project. It's an interior fit-out on multiple floors of an existing building, and the building manager is serving as the WELL coordinator. The owner is also a pharma company, and they own the building, so they can easily manage the operational side (because they don't have to ask the landlord's permission). As a specifier, the most useful document I was able to find among the WELL resources was Appendix D to the WELL Building Standard, which calls out the types of documentation required for each measure. When you go to try to specify the procedures for substantiating WELL compliance, it's a great help. I agree with Brian that the material selections dovetail pretty well with the low-emitting materials requirements in LEED. Being in California, SCAQMD compliance and CARB compliance are pretty standard, so that's the easy part of specifying WELL. The construction air quality management part is not much different from LEED's version, either. Cleanable high-touch surfaces are the biggest new thing that I may have to add to my specs. Best of luck! Lisa Goodwin Robbins, RA, CCS, LEED ap Senior Member Username: lgoodrob Post Number: 303 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2016 - 09:31 am:    Vivian - That's so exciting! Sounds like the right kind of Owner for a WELL project. I still don't have a WELL project, so I'm not able to share documents yet. I do expect to see more multiple certification system projects on the horizon, like LEED/WELL and LEED/LBC. Good luck. Hope to see you soon. - Brian Salazar LEED AP BD+C Intermediate Member Username: entegragreen Post Number: 4 Registered: 05-2016 Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2016 - 09:40 am:    Hi Vivian - I agree, this is a good sign that WELL is catching on, I think it will be a very slow process before the industry adopts it more readily. We still have one rather large project teetering on the brink of WELL, but the owner has not made the commitment yet. In terms of specification: cleanliness of materials, ADA requirements, location and visibility/typography of signage for accessibility of all types, indoor air quality, water quality, and light quality would be the topics I see as most relevant. It would be interesting to see some of the light quality characteristics written into the specs and then confirmed by the CxA during a walk through with a light meter for natural daylight as well as total illumination in a space. I just recently passed the accreditation exam, so eager to put these new skills to use! Entegra Development & Investment, LLC www.entegra-re.com @entegragreen Vivian Volz, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: vivianvolz Post Number: 160 Registered: 06-2004 Posted on Thursday, September 29, 2016 - 04:44 pm:    Hi, all, my first WELL specs go out for their first round of permit and bid tomorrow. (Well, Monday.) We are going for just the prerequisites for a tenant improvement project. I've transcribed a bunch of the targeted features into submittal and field testing requirements, using trusty Appendix D. Will report back if there is screaming from the plan rooms, or (better) if not. Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: michael_chusid Post Number: 220 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Thursday, September 29, 2016 - 05:20 pm:    I hope you write an article for Construction Specifier about your experience. Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru 818-219-4937