The WELL Building Standard is widely recognized for its leadership in bringing human health and comfort to the forefront of building practices and reinventing buildings that are not only better for the planet, but also for people. This article will showcase how cove.tool can be used to assist users pursuing any of the WELL v2 features.
What is WELL?
The WELL Building Standard® is a performance-based system, managed and administered by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), that measures, certifies, and monitors features of the built environment.
The WELL Standard is one of the more specialized rating systems as it utilizes scientific and medical research on the connection between buildings, health, and well-being to optimize a building's design, operations, and occupant behaviors. It goes beyond energy usage to address concerns such as the availability of healthy food options and support of mental health. Therefore, it is imperative to understand that, unlike LEED, the adoption of WELL is a user-driven metric that requires the adoption of the values by the end-user. Seeing that buildings are where we spend more than 90 percent of our time, adopting WELL-certified features can lead to a built environment that helps to improve the nutrition, fitness, mood, sleep, comfort, and performance of its occupants.
How does it Work?
The WELL Building Standard v2® is organized into ten concepts: Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind, and Community. Each Concept is comprised of multiple features, which are intended to address specific aspects of occupant health, comfort, or knowledge. Each feature is divided into parts, which are often tailored to a specific building type. Within each part are one or more requirements, which dictate specific parameters that must be met.
Satisfying a feature requires that all applicable parts of that feature are met. The applicability of a part is determined by the project space type and scope.
Like most GBCI rating systems, WELL v2 operates on a points-based system, with 110 points available in each project scorecard. For a building to be WELL certified, it must receive passing scores in every concept, indicating that each feature meets the standard’s requirements for human well-being. Based on the percentage of points earned, project teams can earn 1 of three tiers of WELL certification: Silver, Gold, and Platinum. WELL certification is valid for only three years, a timeline that encourages a vigilant commitment to the standard. In addition, each WELL-certified building is required to submit annual performance data for “select features that require more frequent reporting." For more on the certification process check out this link.
How can cove.tool help?
We referenced the WELL Standard V2, Q4 2021 to determine which features cove.tool could be used to achieve. At the moment, the platform can be used to pursue the following features:
L06 Daylight Simulation (prev. LIGHT 62: Daylight modeling)- Part 1: Conduct Daylight Simulation
sDA - at least 55% of the space receives at least 300 lux (28 fc) of sunlight for at least 50% of operating hours each year.
ASE - no more than 10% of the area can receive more than 1,000 lux (93 fc) for 250 hours each year.
cove.tool's Daylight sDA & ASE Analysis can be used for this point.
LIGHT 53. Visual Lighting Design - Part 5: Visual Acuity for Learning
The ambient lighting system at desks in classrooms for the specified age groups meet the following requirements:Early education, primary and secondary schools, and adult education for students primarily under 25 years of age: Able to maintain an average of 175 lux (16 fc) or more measured on the horizontal plane, typically 0.76 m (30 inches) above the finished floor. The lights may be dimmed in the presence of daylight, but they are able to independently achieve these levels.
V05 Site Planning and Selection - Part 2: Select Sites with Acces to Mass Transit
The project is located in an area (zip or postal code) with a minimum Transit Score® of 70.
cove.tool generates a transit score in the final report based on your building location.
I05 Green Building Rating Systems - Part 1: Achieve Green Building Certification
The project is certified in a green building rating system approved by IWBI and listed on IWBI's website.
cove.tool helps achieve certifications with many of the listed approved green building rating systems.
Happy Modeling!