WELL Building Standard v2

Air is the first of the ten concepts and carries four preconditions. A01 Air Quality sets mandatory thresholds for particulate matter, organic gases, inorganic gases and radon, verified by on site performance testing. A03 Ventilation Design is the mandatory ventilation rate requirement quoted here. Filter grade (A12), mould control (A14) and combustion sources (A10) are addressed in optimizations, which are optional point earning features rather than preconditions.

Newly installed ventilation systems are designed to meet the supply and exhaust rates set in one or more of the following ventilation guidelines, which must describe ventilation rates for at least 90% of the project area. The ventilation system is scheduled to be tested and balanced after project occupancy:

Water carries three preconditions. W01 Water Quality Indicators, quoted here, is mandatory and requires on site testing. W02 Drinking Water Quality sets health based limits on chemical composition and W03 Basic Water Management addresses Legionella risk. Optimizations W04 and W05 extend the tested panel and add a drinking water quality management plan. The document contains no criterion on shower or bath water filtration at room level, and no criterion on pool or spa water chemistry or sanitation method.

Water delivered to the project and intended for human contact (e.g., drinking, cooking and dishwashing, handwashing, showering or bathing) meets the following thresholds: a. Turbidity is less than or equal to 1.0 NTU, FTU or FNU. b. Coliforms are not detected in any 100 ml sample.

Light carries two preconditions, L01 Light Exposure (daylight simulation, interior layout or building design routes to daylight access) and L02 Visual Lighting Design. Circadian lighting is addressed in L03, which sets melanopic equivalent light thresholds and, for dwelling units, requires that levels are dimmable and automatically dimmed after 8:00 pm. Flicker is addressed in the requirement quoted here. L03 and L08 are optimizations, so a certified project need not take them. The document contains no criterion requiring blackout in sleeping areas and no criterion on exterior light pollution or night sky discipline.

All luminaires, in combination with the appropriate controls (except decorative lights, emergency lights and other special-purpose lighting), used in regularly occupied spaces meet at least one of the following flicker requirements:

The WELL v2 rating system document, Q4 2020 edition, contains no criterion addressing radiofrequency exposure, electromagnetic fields, wired versus wireless network topology, shielded cabling, demand switches, field measurement in sleeping areas, or router, access point or smart meter placement. A full text search of the 365 page document returns no occurrence of electromagnetic, radiofrequency, wireless, Wi-Fi or magnetic field. A feature titled "Non-ionizing radiation best practices" appears in the IWBI feature library attached to the October 2016 edition of WELL v1, where the library marks it as an outdated feature.

Materials carries three preconditions. X01 Material Restrictions is mandatory and restricts asbestos, lead, mercury and PCBs. The textile and plastic restriction quoted here sits in X05, an optimization, as do X06 VOC Restrictions (which requires third party emissions testing to CDPH Standard Method v1.2, AgBB or EN 16516-1) and X11 Cleaning Products and Protocols. The document contains no criterion on mattress composition as such, and no criterion on linen fibre content or textile certification schemes such as GOTS or OEKO-TEX.

Textiles (i.e., fabrics including upholstery) and plastics in products contain 100 ppm (0.01%) by weight or less of the below compounds and chemical classes, unless higher amounts are mandated by local codes.

Nourishment carries two preconditions, N01 Fruits and Vegetables and N02 Nutritional Transparency, the latter covering nutritional labelling and allergy information. Sourcing verification is addressed in N11, quoted here, on site growing in N12 Food Production, and additive discipline in N05 Artificial Ingredients, which lists named colourings, sweeteners, preservatives and partially hydrogenated oils to be phased out. N11, N12 and N05 are optimizations rather than preconditions. The document contains no criterion on cookware or on cooking oil type beyond the artificial ingredient list, and no criterion on water used for ice.

If foods and beverages are sold or provided on a daily basis by (or under contract with) the project owner, the total product line meets the following criteria: a. At least 50% of the total produce line (fruits and vegetables) is certified organic.

M02 Nature and Place is a precondition, so every certified project must integrate natural materials, patterns, shapes, colours, images or sounds together with plants, water or nature views, and must address celebration of culture, celebration of place, integration of art and human delight. M09 Enhanced Access to Nature adds distance and line of sight thresholds for indoor nature and a 5% outdoor space or 200 m nearby green space test, as an optimization. The document contains no criterion on ceiling height or spatial volume.

The project integrates the following throughout the space, including common circulation routes, shared seating areas and rooms (e.g., conference rooms, common spaces) and workstations (as applicable): a. Natural materials, patterns, shapes, colors, images or sounds.

Sound carries one precondition, S01 Sound Mapping, which requires labelled loud, quiet, mixed and circulation zones and an acoustic design plan. Measured background noise is addressed in S02, quoted here, which sets a night time limit in bedrooms for dwelling units. Acoustic separation between adjoining rooms is addressed in S03 Sound Barriers, which sets STC or Rw values by wall type including 55 between areas for sleeping and other regularly occupied spaces. S02 and S03 are optimizations. On scent, the document restricts fragrance only in W08 Hygiene Support, which requires fragrance-free liquid hand soap; it contains no criterion on fragrance diffused into guest rooms or public areas.

Average background noise levels in bedrooms, when measured over a 12-hour minimum time period (which must include the hours of 10 pm to 7 am), do not exceed 35 dBA (Leq).