Assessing health and wellbeing in buildings
In January 2018, BRE and the International WELL Building Institute pbc (IWBI™) released a new, improved briefing paper that outlines how projects may achieve both a certified BREEAM rating and WELL Certification post-occupation.
Following the 2016 announcement of an agreement between the two organisations to pursue alignments between WELL and BREEAM; the crosswalk document, Assessing Health and Wellbeing in Buildings, was first published in early-2017 to make it easier for those wishing to obtain both a certified BREEAM rating and a WELL Certified™ rating.
The document provides guidance on how the process for pursuing dual certification may be streamlined, and offers information for architects and designers to better understand the requirements and how the two standards relate. It also sets out the areas where WELL requirements are addressed by UK and/or EU regulations, and where these can be omitted from an assessment for buildings undergoing a WELL assessment in these territories.
Specific improvements and enhancements to the guidance document include instructions for projects that clarify how to use the crosswalk, minor amendments to the alignments and overlaps between the two standards, and a simplified labeling system. The new crosswalk also features useful notes and comments to clarify these alignments.
BREEAM and WELL are both evidence-based systems that have best practice, continual improvement and the interest of both the environment and people at their heart. Certification under both systems is pursued through the submission of project documentation and on-site post-occupancy performance testing.
The publication of the briefing paper comes at a time when corporations as well as the real estate industry are increasingly looking at how the built environment impacts human health as well as sustainability.
Alan Yates, BREEAM Technical Director, said: “The document will allow clients and design teams to use the same evidence in both schemes. When you need or want both certification schemes, this document will guide project teams on the most efficient way of going through the process. They won’t need to duplicate evidence or calculate things in different ways, as approximately 35 % of credits are equivalent or aligned in some way. This will ultimately reduce the burden of assessing both schemes.”
This article was originally published here on 1 Feb 2017 by BRE Buzz. It was written by Simon Guy.
--BRE Buzz
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Are we doing the right thing? Shaping well-being into the future of our urban communities.
- BRE Buzz articles on Designing Buildings Wiki.
- BREEAM.
- BREEAM Assessor.
- Building Back Better: Health.
- Building for wellbeing.
- Building up wellbeing in construction.
- Human comfort in buildings.
- Measuring the wellbeing benefits of interior materials.
- Performance in use.
- Phobias.
- The Flourish Model to enhance wellbeing.
- WELL and BREEAM align.
- WELL Building Standard.
- Wellbeing and buildings.
- Wellbeing considerations for property managers.
Issue support documents
![]() |
These are Multiple Author Articles - click on them and add to them today. It's easy. |
You can also add to General Multiple Author Articles here.
Issue support documents are written for named BREEAM Issues or sub-issues. More info. (ac) = awaiting content.
Thanks to our Knowledge Sharing Ambassadors for a lot of this content | |
[edit] Management:
- BREEAM Sustainability champion
- BREEAM Environmental management
- BREEAM Considerate construction
- BREEAM Monitoring of construction site impacts
- BREEAM Aftercare support
- BREEAM Seasonal commissioning
- BREEAM Testing and inspecting building fabric
- BREEAM Life cycle cost and service life planning
- BREEAM Stakeholder consultation (ac)
- BREEAM Commissioning (ac)
- BREEAM Handover (ac)
- BREEAM Inclusive and accessible design (ac)
- BREEAM Post occupancy evaluation
[edit] Health and Wellbeing
- BREEAM Visual comfort Daylighting (partly ac)
- BREEAM Visual comfort View out
- BREEAM Visual comfort Glare control
- BREEAM Indoor air quality plan
- BREEAM Indoor air quality Ventilation
- BREEAM Thermal comfort
- BREEAM Internal and external lighting (ac)
- BREEAM Indoor pollutants VOCs (ac)
- BREEAM Potential for natural ventilation (ac)
- BREEAM Safe containment in laboratories (ac)
- BREEAM Acoustic performance
- BREEAM Safety and security (ac)
[edit] Energy
- BREEAM Reduction of energy use and carbon emissions
- BREEAM Energy monitoring
- BREEAM External lighting
- BREEAM Low carbon design
- BREEAM Passive design
- BREEAM Free cooling
- BREEAM LZC technologies
- BREEAM Energy efficient cold storage (partly ac)
- BREEAM Energy efficient transportation systems
- BREEAM Energy efficient laboratory systems
- BREEAM Energy efficient equipment (partly ac)
- BREEAM Drying space
[edit] Transport
- BREEAM Transport assessment and travel plan
- BREEAM Public transport accessibility
- BREEAM Sustainable transport measures
- BREEAM Proximity to amenities
- BREEAM Cyclist facilities
- BREEAM Alternative modes of transport (ac)
- BREEAM Maximum car parking capacity
- BREEAM Travel plan
- BREEAM Home office (ac)
[edit] Water
- BREEAM Water consumption
- BREEAM Water efficient equipment
- BREEAM Water monitoring
- BREEAM Water leak detection (ac)
[edit] Materials
- BREEAM Hard landscaping and boundary protection
- BREEAM Responsible sourcing of materials
- BREEAM Insulation
- BREEAM Designing for durability and resilience
- BREEAM Life cycle impacts
- BREEAM Material efficiency (ac)
[edit] Waste
- BREEAM Construction waste management
- BREEAM Recycled aggregates
- BREEAM Speculative floor & ceiling finishes
- BREEAM Adaptation to climate change
- BREEAM Operational waste
- BREEAM Functional adaptability (ac)
[edit] Land Use and Ecology
- BREEAM Site Selection
- BREEAM Ecological value of site
- BREEAM Protection of ecological features
- BREEAM Minimising impact on existing site ecology
- BREEAM Enhancing site ecology
- BREEAM Long term impact on biodiversity (ac)
[edit] Pollution
- BREEAM Impact of refrigerants
- BREEAM NOx emissions
- BREEAM Flood risk management (ac)
- BREEAM Surface water run-off (ac)
- BREEAM Reduction of night time light pollution (partly ac)
- BREEAM Reduction of noise pollution
Once an ISD has been initially created the '(ac)' marker can be removed
This particular index is based around the structure of the New Construction and RFO schemes.