The Blog

By Mercedes Quintanilla

The WELL building Standard is a metric for buildings and organizations to deliver environments that enhance the occupant’s health and well-being. The standard includes 10 concepts, this time I’m going to go over the Community concept.

Goal.

Create an inclusive and integrated community through social justice, civic engagement and accessible design.

Background.

• Within each built space there is a unique community of people with diverse characteristics who are linked by social ties, share common perspectives, and engage in joint actions and experiences in shared settings or places.
• The global, national, and local conditions that affect the health of each individual in a community are known as the social determinants of health, which include physical determinants, or the physical and built conditions that affect well-being.
• The determinants of health can influence health disparities, which are differences in health status between population groups as a result of the unequal distribution of power and resources based on gender, race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.
• For example, many people around the world still struggle with low health literacy and limited access to basic health services, which varies by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity and place of residence.
• It is estimated that 235 million urban families live in precarious housing, which generates health problems such as asthma, infectious diseases and cardiovascular events.
• Exclusive hiring and promotion practices also present barriers to population advancement.
• The promotion of community well-being must begin by supporting the fundamental factors that influence individual and collective health.
• Creating plans to support business continuity, job readiness, and project re-entry after extended remote periods helps maintain business resiliency and individual well-being during and after longer emergencies.
• In addition to policies and programs that promote health, design plays a critical role in addressing the physical determinants of health and making buildings accessible and safe for all.
• Finally, the addition of affordable housing units can help improve overall health and provide a stable platform for the delivery of essential services for low-income populations.

Requirements.

1. Health and Wellness Promotion: Projects must provide occupant guidance that highlights WELL features, the relationship between health, buildings, resources, and available health programs.
2. Integrative Design: This feature of WELL requires project teams to facilitate an inclusive and collaborative planning and guidance process and establish a health-oriented mission.
3. Illness Preparedness: This WELL feature requires projects to conduct a risk assessment, create an emergency management plan for natural, human-caused, technological, and health-related events, and educate occupants about the plan to support emergency preparedness and response.
4. Occupant Survey: Projects must collect feedback from building users through custom or third-party surveys on their health, well-being, and satisfaction with their environment, particularly on topics related to WELL strategies.
5. Enhanced Occupant Survey: This WELL feature requires projects to be based on minimum occupant survey requirements by collecting and responding to more detailed and personalized information from building users about their health, well-being, and satisfaction with their surroundings, including topics related to WELL strategies, both before and during occupation.
6. Health Services and Benefits: Projects are required to provide essential and on-demand health access, paid sick leave, and immunizations.
7. Enhanced Health and Wellness Promotion: Projects are required to cultivate a culture of health through communications, health promotion programs, and leadership at the executive level.
8. New support for parents: Paid parental leave required for primary and non-primary caregivers, support resources for parents returning to work.
9. New support for mothers: This role requires the provision of dedicated lactation rooms with support services, as well as paid time off, travel accommodation, and resources to help mothers initiate and maintain breastfeeding.
10. Family Support: Offers policies and programs that facilitate child care and family leave.
11. Civic Engagement: This is a commitment to civic engagement through charitable activities, designated public spaces, and community engagement programs.
12. Diversity and Inclusion: Projects must implement and report on internal policies and programs that promote diversity and inclusion.
13. Accessibility and Universal Design: Projects are required to go beyond accessibility laws and/or codes by integrating universal design principles to accommodate diverse needs and create a fully inclusive environment.
14. Emergency Resources: Projects must offer resources such as first aid kits, automated external defibrillators, and opioid response kits. Training in emergency preparedness and response should be provided.
15. Resiliency and Emergency Recovery: This role requires projects to create a business continuity plan, establish a re-entry plan, and provide support resources to facilitate resilience during and recovery from an emergency.
16. Fair Housing: Affordable housing units should be designed that are buck-trend, reduce housing costs for low-income renters, and offer multi-bedroom options.
17. Responsible Labor Practices: Unfair labor practices associated with modern slavery in your operations and supply chains must be assessed and disclosed.
18. Support victims of domestic violence: Projects must implement a policy that supports victims.

References.

– IWBI. (s.f.). International WELL Building Institute. WEEL-IWBI. Retrieved July 5, 2022, from https://www.wellcertified.com/

– M. (2021, December 28). What is the WELL Building Standard. WELL Certification | ITG WELL. ITG Market Partner WELL in Spain. Retrieved July 4, 2022, from https://wellservices.itg.es/certificado-well/