WELL has become one of the fastest growing building rating systems in the country. There are several opportunities for building product manufacturers to get specified on WELL projects. We will identify strategies and documentation that can help manufacturers increase their specification opportunities.

What Is The WELL Building Standard?

The WELL Building Standard is a roadmap for creating and certifying spaces that advance human health and well-being. Developed over 10 years and backed by the latest scientific research, WELL v2 supports physical and mental health across 10 core concepts. WELL works at any scale, from a single interior space to an entire organization. WELL has become especially popular and relevant in the age of COVID-19.

The WELL Building Standard was pioneered by Delos, an organization that develops products, programs, and solutions to transform the spaces where we live, learn, work, and play. Delos started with a simple question, “How do we merge real estate with health and well-being?”. In 2013, Delos established the International WELL Building Institute. This organization is a public benefit corporation that commits fifty-one percent of all net profits from WELL certification fees to charitable contributions and impact investment focused on health, wellness, and the built environment.

Many of you are familiar with LEED. You probably have developed LEED documentation for your products, HPDs and maybe even EPDs for products. In some ways, WELL is similar to LEED. And in other ways, they are very different. While LEED focuses on energy savings and environmental design for a building, WELL focuses on the health and well-being of the building occupants. The good news is that your company may have already produced documentation, testing, certifications, and declarations for LEED that can also be used for WELL.

WELL Documentation

WELL Product Documentation lists your building products sustainability attributes. Design professionals need this information when working on WELL projects. WELL product Documentation is similar to LEED product documentation. Instead of LEED credit categories, your product contributes to a WELL Concept.

WELL Product Documentation provides a comprehensive analysis of your products contributions to WELL Concepts. Design professionals can then copy and paste this language from your website for their WELL project. This information can also be used for material databases like Mindful materials and the Sustainable Minds Transparency Catalog. This increases your product specification opportunities.

WELL Technical Documents

WELL Technical Documents are the documentation that supports a specific WELL feature. Product declarations, product certifications, and testing documentation are a few technical documents that are not only cost-effective, but also work for the LEED rating system. Ideally, when your company invests in documentation and testing, it should cover multiple fronts and ratings systems. Here are the top contenders to increase specification opportunities.

The Health Product Declaration (HPD) is hands down the most used and popular transparency document for WELL, LEED, CHPS, and other ratings systems. If you want to contribute a point and do it inexpensively and easily, this is the best place to start. If you don’t have an HPD, then you are really behind the times and sure to lose market share as HPDs become mandatory for many projects.

The Declare Label is a technical document for manufacturers that are a bit further down the road on their sustainability journey. Manufacturers should note that it is several times more expensive than an HPD due to annual fees and membership costs. An HPD doesn’t expire for 3 years while a Declare Label has to be renewed annually. However, the Declare label increases point contributions for WELL and might be a benefit against competitors.

WELL Education

Finally, education is a key component to understand the WELL rating system and to improve your chances of getting your products specified. We recommend two strategies for education. First, your sales and marketing team, product reps, and even admin should have a basic idea of what WELL is and what it can offer.

WELL content should also be included in your free AIA courses and GBCI online courses, webinars, and face to face presentations. If you already have an HPD and/or a Declare Label, let the AEC community know. All of your current education presentations should include LEED credit and WELL feature information if your products qualify. Out of sight is out of mind. If design professionals don’t know your products contribute to WELL, they won’t consider them for specification.

How does your company increase specification opportunities for WELL projects?