Feature scope and applicability

You can find guidance on how WELL Core projects are scored in the digital standard using the WELL Core toggle. This information is also available in the project scorecard by selecting WELL Core as the project enrollment type.

WELL Core measures performance in diverse ways to assign credit

1. Across the whole building, defined as all areas within the project boundary.

   To earn whole-building features, the building owner needs to have provided or offered the intervention to all tenants at no cost to the tenants. Tenants can decline free benefits or interventions based on their own preferences without impacting scoring.

   Example: Part 1: Ensure Adequate Ventilation of Feature A03: Ventilation Design applies to the whole building. The project has to facilitate achieving these benchmarks, even in leased spaces.

2. In non-leased spaces, defined as all areas within the project boundary that are not considered leased space. This includes common areas and spaces under owner control.

   Example: Part 1: Provide Visual Acuity of Feature L02: Visual Lighting Design applies to electric lighting in non-leased spaces, such as common spaces, lobby entrances, reception areas, staircases and pathways.

3. Across the extent of developer buildout, defined as all non-leased space and all construction within the leased space for which the project owner team is responsible.

   Example: Part 1: Provide Bathroom and Handwashing Accommodations of Feature W08: Hygiene Support applies to the extent of developer buildout, which means it must be met in the bathrooms located in non-leased spaces. If this buildout includes bathrooms in leased spaces, then they are also included.

4. For building management staff, defined as individuals responsible for maintaining and operating the building. This includes both direct staff and sub-contracted staff.

   There should be at least one member of the building management staff serving the project who spends no fewer than 30 hours per month in the building in order to qualify for building management staff-related features. The building management staff is not required to have a permanent workstation in the project building.

   If a project has no building management staff, associated preconditions are considered met. Projects without building management staff cannot qualify for optimizations related to them.

   Example: Part 1: Promote Mental Health and Well-being of Feature M01: Mental Health Promotion applies to projects whose owners offer education and resources to the building management staff that address mental health literacy.

5. For direct staff, defined as building staff under direct employ by the project owner.

   To qualify for these features, at least one member of the direct staff serving the project must spend no fewer than 30 hours per month in the building. They are not required to have a permanent workstation in the project building.

   If a project building has no direct staff on-site, but does have sub-contracted staff (such as for building management), the project is allowed to earn points by meeting feature requirements for all or a defined subset of building management staff.

   If a project building has no direct staff and no contracted staff, associated preconditions for direct staff are considered met. However, these projects cannot qualify for optimizations related to direct staff.

   Example: Part 1: Offer Physical Activity Incentives of Feature V09: Physical Activity Promotion grants points if the project owner provides physical activity incentives to the employed direct staff.

Additional point opportunities

WELL Core projects may earn one additional point for certain features by meeting requirements within tenant spaces or common areas. If there is no non-leased area for the feature to be applicable, then the project can still earn an extra point when applying the feature in leased areas.

Example: Part 1: Provide Visual Acuity of Feature L02: Visual Lighting Design applies to non-leased spaces. A project could achieve one extra point if that requirement is also applied in leased spaces.

Features with additional point opportunities

• • A08.1 Install Indoor Air Monitors
  • A11.1 Manage Pollution and Exhaust
• • N08.1 Support Mindful Eating
  • N10.1 Provide Meal Support
  • N12.1 Provide Gardening Space
• • L02.1 Provide Visual Acuity
  • L04.1 Manage Glare from Electric Lighting
  • L07.1 Balance Visual Lighting
  • L08.1 Enhance Color Rendering Quality
  • L08.2 Manage Flicker
  • L09.1 Enhance Occupant Controllability
  • L09.2 Provide Supplemental Lighting
• • V02.1 Support Visual Ergonomics
  • V02.2 Provide Height-Adjustable Work Surfaces
  • V02.3 Provide Chair Adjustability
  • V02.4 Provide Support at Standing Workstations
  • V06.1 Offer Physical Activity Opportunities
  • V07.1 Provide Active Workstations
  • V08.1 Provide Indoor Activity Spaces
  • V10.1 Provide Self-Monitoring Tools
  • V11.1 Implement an Ergonomics Program
  • V11.2 Commit to Ergonomic Improvements
• • T04.1 Provide Personal Cooling Options
  • T04.2 Provide Personal Heating Options
  • T06.1 Monitor Thermal Environment
• • S02.1 Limit Background Noise Levels
  • S04.1 Achieve Reverberation Time Thresholds
  • S05.1 Implement Sound Reducing Surfaces
  • S08.1 Provide Enhanced Speech Intelligibility
  • S09.1 Implement a Hearing Health Conservation Program
• • X11.1 Improve Cleaning Practices
  • X11.2 Select Preferred Cleaning Products
• • C09.2 Design Lactation Room

Demonstrating feature achievement in tenant areas

There are generally three pathways for WELL Core projects to demonstrate features applicable within tenant spaces:

1. The project owner meets the requirements in the tenant spaces (e.g., providing ergonomic furniture for V02: Ergonomic Workstation Design).

2. The project owner provides funds to tenants for the purpose of meeting feature requirements. The project should demonstrate that the funds are sufficient (e.g., prepare a budget based on the cost of ergonomic furniture). Tenants can decline to use these funds based on their own preferences without impacting scoring.

3. Demonstrate that the feature requirements in tenant space are already met and in place. This pathway may be particularly applicable to existing projects pursuing certification.

Determining what is not applicable

A WELL Core project should meet compliance for all preconditions and a combination of optimizations that earns at least 40 points.

While preconditions have to be met for a project to qualify, some projects' specific circumstances may make a certain precondition inapplicable. In these cases, the relevant preconditions are considered met. For instance:

• Feature A04: Construction Pollution Management

  • If there is no current construction, then the precondition is not applicable and considered met.

• Feature N01: Fruits and Vegetables & Feature N02: Nutritional Transparency

  • If there is no food provided – by the WELL Core project owner or by a vendor under contract with the owner – then the precondition is not applicable and will be marked as met.

    • In this case, WELL v2 projects should select option 2 for features N01.1, N01.2, N02.1 and upload the required Owner's Letters of Assurance as documentation. Note that N02.2 and N02.3 only apply to commercial dining spaces

    • For v2 pilot, see appendix N1 for additional information.

• Feature L02: Visual Lighting Design

  • If there are no non-leased spaces, then the precondition is not applicable and will be marked met. Projects can designate the extent of the developer build-out as non-leased space to help them meet this feature's requirements. If the project decides to do this, it must consider this space as non-leased space for all WELL features pursued by the project.

• Feature V02: Visual and Physical Ergonomics

  • If there are no non-leased spaces, then Parts 1 through 5 of Feature V02: Visual and Physical Ergonomics are not applicable and are considered met. However, if the project has any workstations within non-leased spaces, such as reception desks, the feature does apply, and educational material must be made available to all tenants (with the exception of V02 parts 5d and 5e).

• Feature T01: Thermal Performance, Part 2: Monitor Thermal Parameters

  • If there are no non-leased spaces, then the precondition does not apply and will be marked met. Projects can pursue these points by designating the extent of the developer build-out as non-leased space. If the project decides to do this, it must consider this space as non-leased space for all WELL features pursued by the project.

• Feature S01: Sound Mapping

  • If there are no non-leased spaces, then the precondition does not apply and will be marked met. Projects can pursue these points by designating the extent of the developer build-out as non-leased space. If the project decides to do this, it must consider this space as non-leased space for all WELL features pursued by the project.

• Feature X01: Fundamental Material Precautions

  • If the building is not undergoing any renovation and does not use any new materials, this precondition does not apply and will be marked met.

• Feature M01: Mental Health Promotion, Part 1: Commit to Mental Health Promotion & Part 2: Promote Mental Health Literacy

  • If there is no building management or direct staff, then the precondition does not apply and will be marked met.

  Feature M02: Access to Nature

  • If there are no non-leased spaces, then the precondition does not apply and will be marked met. Projects can pursue these points by designating the extent of the developer build-out as non-leased space. If the project decides to do this, it must consider this space as non-leased space for all WELL features pursued by the project.

• Feature C02: Integrative Design, Part 2: Integrate Beauty and Design

  • If there are no non-leased spaces, then the precondition does not apply and will be marked met. Projects can pursue these points by designating the extent of the developer build-out as non-leased space. If the project decides to do this, it must consider this space as non-leased space for all WELL features pursued by the project.

  Feature C03: Emergency Preparedness

  • Projects that have no direct staff and are leased to a single tenant that performs ongoing management of the building are exempt from this feature. Multiple-tenant projects do not qualify for an exemption.

  Feature C04: Occupant Survey

  • If there are fewer than ten direct staff or building management staff, then the precondition does not apply and will be marked met.

If a project treats features as inapplicable due to lack of non-leased space, direct staff or building management staff, it cannot gain points for optimizations related to non-leased space, direct staff or building management staff.

If the project could meet this feature's requirements by subsidizing non-leased spaces with the extent of the developer build-out, then it can still earn points via optimizations.

Adapt direct staff applicability assignments

If the WELL Core project has no direct staff on-site (i.e., the building is entirely operated by subcontracted staff), it may earn points by transferring relevant benefits from the non-existing direct staff to all or a defined subset of the sub-contracted staff. The benefits will still be subject to evaluation and the people included should be consistent across the features. These benefits can be offered as:

• Passive benefits: The building owner confirms that the sub-contracted staff is offered self-monitoring tools by their employer. In this scenario, the project can earn one point for Feature V12: Self-monitoring.

• Active benefits: The building owner directly offers sub-contracted staff self-monitoring tools. In this scenario, the project can earn one point for Feature V12: Self-monitoring.

Meet minimums for direct staff assignments

Building management staff are individuals responsible for maintaining and operating the building, including direct staff (employed by the building owner) and/or subcontracted staff (contracted by the building owner). Cleaners, security and reception can all qualify as either type of staff, depending on the nature of their relation to the building owner.

If a WELL Core project has building management staff who service the building but no staff who spend the minimum 30 hours per month in the building over at least five days, that project would not be considered to have “direct/management staff." All preconditions related to direct/building staff would be considered satisfied, but the project is not eligible to earn points from optimizations related to direct staff.

Scope of applicability for integrated fit-outs in WELL Core projects

Integrated fit-out is when there is a single contractor responsible for both the Core of the base building and the interior fit-out of the building. The contractor will typically be engaged under separate contracts: one contract for the Core (or base building) scope of work and one for the fit-out scope of work. In these cases, the “extent of developer buildout” applicability relates to the contracted Core (or base building) scope of work.