This article identifies some of the most common reasons that documentation for feature T01.1 - Provide Acceptable Thermal Environment - is marked as pending in preliminary documentation review (WELL Certification) or round 1 (WELL at scale) reviews. This guidance does not include all possible reasons for a pending status, but provides information and context based on common review issues. 

Sample documentation is available for this feature part–be sure to reference this resource as you prepare your documentation. A technical document template is also available.

Document metabolic rate and clothing values before testing

If you choose to pursue Option 1: Performance verified environmental conditions, metabolic rate and clothing values must be specified in the documentation that the project team provides, not the performance testing provider. If your project uses variable (seasonal) values, your documentation must specify exact values, not ranges, for both heating and cooling seasons.

A document outlining all required values must be uploaded to your account and provided to your chosen performance testing provider prior to performance testing. Conducting performance testing and then revising your documentation to match the values obtained by the performance testing provider is not acceptable.

Provide completed project information and performance template

You must submit a completed Project Information and Performance Template (PIP) as a General document when you submit for performance verification review (for WELL at scale projects only: assign the PIP template to each option that requires performance verification when you submit for review).

Submit a completed engineer letter of assurance

Be sure to provide a completed Engineer Letter of Assurance. Common mistakes with the letter of assurance for this feature include:

• Marking the incorrect document stage (e.g., marking Precertification instead of Certification, or vice versa)
• Not completing/signing all required fields
• Providing the wrong type of Letter of Assurance - be sure to download the Engineer Letter of Assurance

Provide supporting documentation for performance testing

When uploading performance testing documentation, the Performance Testing Provider must provide supporting documentation along with the test results. This includes:

• Raw testing data
• Equipment calibration certificates, including the calibration date and the manufacturer’s specifications for calibration
• Photos of on-site device setup

Meet technical document requirements

A common issue is that the technical document required for this feature part is missing critical information. A template is available on your scorecard and in the standard to guide you. Ensure that you submit the following: 

Mode of conditioning and PMV targets

• Your document must indicate the mode of conditioning used. If mechanical conditioning is used, you must also include the PMV targets as mentioned in requirement a.

Clothing insulation and metabolic rate

• Your clo and met values may vary by season if you are using variable values. In that case, be sure to include values for each distinct season. Your location may not experience four distinct seasons even though you choose to use seasonal values–in that case, clearly state what seasons are represented (e.g., some locations may only experience distinct summer and winter with no spring/fall) and the dates for each.
• If you are using dynamic clo and met values, provide the formula that determines the values.

Air speed

• If your project uses elevated air speed calculations, include the air speed at a height between 0.6 and 1.7 m [2 and 5.6 ft] above the floor used in design calculations.

Space exclusions

• You may exclude up to 10% of regularly occupied spaces from PMV requirements. If you choose to do so, clearly document the excluded areas before testing. Your documentation must include an annotated floor plan clearly showing the excluded areas and calculations demonstrating that the excluded area does not exceed 10% of total regular occupied spaces.

Outdoor temperature source

Your document must indicate the source of outdoor air temperature data that will be available to the Performance Testing Agent. This may be a publicly available source (e.g., a weather app) or local sensors installed on the building.