WELL Building Practices Explained

The WELL Building Standard represents a revolutionary approach to creating healthier workplaces by focusing on how buildings impact human health and well-being. As businesses increasingly recognise the connection between built environments and employee performance, understanding WELL practices has become essential for forward-thinking organisations committed to employee welfare.

Understanding the WELL Building Standard

WELL takes a holistic approach to health in built environments, addressing seven fundamental concepts that impact occupant wellbeing. Unlike traditional building standards that focus primarily on energy efficiency, WELL prioritises human health through evidence-based design and operational strategies.

The standard is grounded in medical research exploring the connection between buildings—where we spend over 90% of our time—and health outcomes, including nutrition, fitness, mood, sleep patterns, and cognitive performance.

The Seven WELL Concepts

Air: Indoor Air Quality Excellence

WELL’s Air concept focuses on optimising indoor air quality through contaminant removal, prevention, and purification. Poor air quality reduces cognitive function, increases sick days, and creates uncomfortable working environments.

Key requirements include minimising sources of airborne contaminants, promoting air quality through design and operational strategies, and ensuring adequate ventilation throughout buildings.

Water: Quality and Accessibility

The Water concept ensures optimal water quality whilst promoting accessibility through filtration, treatment, and strategic placement of water sources throughout facilities.

WELL water standards address fundamental water quality, inorganic and organic contaminants, agricultural contaminants, and public water additives that may impact health.

Nourishment: Healthy Eating Environments

WELL’s Nourishment concept encourages healthy eating habits through better food choices, behavioural cues, and nutrition education within workplace environments.

This includes promoting fruits and vegetables, limiting highly processed ingredients, and creating food environments that support healthy choices.

Light: Circadian Rhythm Optimisation

The Light concept minimises disruption to natural circadian rhythms through strategic window design, lighting controls, and appropriate illumination levels throughout different times of day.

Requirements focus on providing adequate light exposure, managing electric light quality, and supporting circadian health through proper lighting design.

Fitness: Encouraging Physical Activity

WELL’s Fitness concept utilises building design and knowledge-based strategies to encourage physical activity and accommodate fitness regimens within daily schedules.

This includes promoting movement through building design, providing fitness facilities, and creating active transportation options.

Comfort: Distraction-Free Environments

The Comfort concept creates indoor environments that are productive and soothing through thermal and acoustic controllability and design standards.

Key areas include thermal comfort, acoustic comfort, and ergonomic design that supports occupant wellbeing and productivity.

Mind: Mental and Emotional Wellbeing

WELL’s Mind concept supports mental and emotional health through design elements, relaxation spaces, and environmental feedback systems that promote psychological wellness.

This encompasses stress management, mood enhancement, and creating environments that support mental clarity and emotional balance.

WELL Certification Levels

WELL certification operates on a tiered system based on points earned through Preconditions and Optimisations:

Silver Certification: Baseline requirements through all Preconditions, plus additional Optimisations

Gold Certification: Higher performance through additional Optimisations

Platinum Certification: Exceptional performance through comprehensive Optimisation implementation

The Role of Cleaning in WELL Buildings

Proper cleaning practices play a crucial role in maintaining WELL building standards, particularly in supporting air quality, water quality, and overall hygiene requirements that impact occupant health.

Cleaning practices directly impact indoor air quality through the products used and methods employed. Chemical-free cleaning methods avoid introducing volatile organic compounds that can compromise air quality.

Regular, effective cleaning maintains the hygienic conditions necessary for occupant health whilst avoiding harsh chemicals that can create additional health risks.

When it comes to environmental quality, sustainable cleaning practices support the overall environmental quality that WELL buildings strive to achieve.

Sustainable Cleaning Alignment

Eco-friendly cleaning practices naturally align with WELL building principles:

• Avoiding harsh chemicals supports better indoor air quality and reduces occupant exposure to potentially harmful substances.
• Natural cleaning methods that work with biological processes rather than against them support healthier indoor environments.
• Efficient cleaning methods that minimise water waste align with WELL’s sustainability principles.

Implementation Considerations

Achieving WELL compliance requires systematic planning across all building operations:

1. Assessment: Evaluate current building performance against WELL requirements across all seven concepts.
2. Planning: Develop comprehensive strategies to address gaps and enhance performance in each area.
3. Implementation: Execute improvements, including enhanced operational practices that support occupant health.
4. Verification: Document compliance through testing, monitoring, and third-party verification processes.
5. Maintenance: Maintain standards through ongoing operational excellence and regular performance monitoring.

The Business Case for WELL

WELL-certified buildings deliver measurable benefits:

• Employee Attraction and Retention: Healthy workplaces attract top talent and reduce turnover in competitive job markets.
• Enhanced Performance: Healthier environments support better cognitive function and overall work performance.
• Reduced Absenteeism: Better indoor environments typically correlate with fewer sick days and health-related absences.
• Market Differentiation: WELL certification demonstrates a genuine commitment to employee wellbeing and corporate responsibility.

Businesses pursuing WELL certification benefit from operational practices that align with health and sustainability principles. This includes choosing service providers whose methods support rather than undermine indoor environmental quality.

Crystalcare’s sustainable cleaning approach using chemical-free methods and eco-friendly products aligns with the health-focused principles that underpin WELL building standards.

Your Path to Healthier Workplaces

Understanding WELL Building practices provides the foundation for creating genuinely healthier work environments. Whether pursuing formal certification or simply implementing health-focused improvements, the WELL framework offers evidence-based guidance for better workplace design and operations.

Ready to explore how sustainable practices can support healthier workplace environments? Contact Crystalcare to discuss how our eco-friendly cleaning methods align with health-focused building operations. Visit crystalcarecleaning.co.uk to learn more about our sustainable cleaning solutions.