The WELL Building Standard measures what a building does for the people inside it: air, water, light, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind. We run the certification and test the conditions it describes, so the wellbeing of the people using the building is measured rather than assumed.
2021
WELL performance testing since
v2
current version
10
concepts assessed
What is WELL?
The WELL Building Standard, administered by the International WELL Building Institute and certified through GBCI, is a framework for buildings that support human health. It scores performance across ten concepts, from air and water quality to lighting, acoustics and mental well-being.
WELL verifies performance in the finished building: air is sampled, water is drawn at the tap, light is measured at the desk. Certification depends on what the testing agent finds.
The MEP systems that decide WELL outcomes (ventilation, filtration, water treatment, lighting) are systems we design and test. Our team also includes an active WELL Performance Testing Agent, so the on-site verification WELL requires can be carried out by our own people.
the process
How WELL certification works
step 01
Strategy
Feature selection against the project brief, with a gap analysis showing which concepts the current design reaches and which need engineering attention.
step 02
Design integration
WELL requirements written into the MEP, lighting and materials specifications while they can still change without significant additional costs.
step 03
Performance testing
On-site measurement of air, water, light, thermal and acoustic conditions, with laboratory analysis of air and water samples, ahead of the official performance verification so nothing arrives as a surprise.
step 04
Certification
Documentation review, then performance verification with the testing agent on site, and certification at Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum.
from our portfolio
WELL projects we've delivered
WELL work spans offices and mixed-use space where occupant experience carries commercial weight.
WELL is the certification where engineering and human experience meet most directly.
The numbers being tested are the conditions people breathe, drink and work in every day, which is reason enough to measure them properly.
01 Performance Testing
The verification is ours to carry out
We have carried out WELL performance testing since 2021, with an active WELL Performance Testing Agent on our team, so the on-site measurement WELL requires can be done by our own engineers, including a chemical engineer for air and water sampling.
02 Systems
The concepts live in the MEP
Ventilation rates, filtration classes, water treatment and lighting quality are decided in the systems design. Because we design these systems ourselves, we can tell early whether a WELL feature calls for a change to the MEP brief.
03 Health framing
Well-being as a design value
Light, air and water are the three conditions that decide how people experience a space. That lens predates our WELL work; the standard gave it a scoring system.
04 The business case
Where the returns actually sit
For most employers, the people in a building cost far more each year than the building itself. That is why improvements in air quality, light and thermal comfort are usually best presented to a board in terms of the people they affect.
Related services
IAQ
Air & Water Quality
Air and water measured where people meet them, at the breathing zone and at the tap, against the thresholds the health-based standards set.
The most widely used green-building rating system, across new construction, interiors, existing buildings and homes. We hold GBCI Proven Provider status for BD+C.
A short call is usually enough to work out where the project sits, what the rating realistically asks of the building, and which decisions need settling before registration.
