Wellbeing

"Well-being is a positive state experienced by individuals and societies. Similar to health, it is a resource for daily life and is determined by social, economic and environmental conditions."

"Well-being encompasses quality of life, as well as the ability of people and societies to contribute to the world in accordance with a sense of meaning and purpose. Focusing on wellbeing supports the tracking of the equitable distribution of resources, overall thriving, and sustainability. A society’s well-being can be observed by the extent to which they are resilient, build capacity for action, and are prepared to transcend challenges." (As defined in the World Health Organisation "Health Promotion Glossary of Terms 2021")

Sustainable buildings provide benefits to the environment, society and economy (also known as planet, people and profit) and create win-win-win situations. In other words, a sustainable building should help to reduce carbon emissions, provide a safe, healthy, comfortable and stimulating environment and help to improve satisfaction and productivity of the users.

Different qualities of a building can have a huge impact on the health and wellbeing of its occupants. The Building Services Research and Intelligence Association (BSRIA) a science-driven, independent organisation providing practical guidance and commercial solutions for the built environment describes these qualities as a building's Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) which is determined by five factors:

• thermal comfort
• indoor air quality
• odours
• sound levels
• light levels

There are quantitative measures which may include:

• Air quality (for pollutants and moisture/odour etc.)
• Air movement
• Ventilation (in terms of fresh air and temperatures)
• Noise levels (external, internal from staff and internal from assets)
• Light and glare
• Temperature and responsiveness of building and controls
• Management of building services (complaints etc.)

And qualitative measures:

• Perceived comfort and health from surveys of occupants
• Inferred information on stress and ease of use of spaces (controls, access etc)
• Sickness records

BSRIA is a specialist in assessing these characteristics and provides a number of services that can positively change the built environment to improve the wellbeing of occupants. BSRIA publishes the topic guide Wellbeing in Buildings (TG 10/2025) it considers what wellbeing means, how this has changed over time and what people need for their wellbeing. It looks at the growing importance of wellbeing in the built environment, including information on building assessment schemes. It looks at how growing recognition of the built environment’s influence on wellbeing has positively influenced approaches to health, mental health and overall wellbeing across the industry. It supersedes TG 10/2016.

The guide discusses how wellbeing has featured more prominently in building assessment schemes including BREEAM before becoming central to the WELL and Fitwel schemes. The multiple assessment elements for wellbeing in these schemes are outlined, demonstrating their broad and equitable approach to optimising buildings for wellbeing. This has been further highlighted by the most recent update of BREEAM version 7, with further prioritises wellbeing in its assessment (see the article 35 Years of BREEAM and latest V7 mandatory update)

These include:

• Soft Landings (ensuring the design meets the needs of the occupiers)
• Mock-up testing (testing a design idea before construction to allow for low cost design changes)
• Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) (investigating ventilation problems, thermal comfort complaints and sick building syndrome)
• Post occupancy evaluation (determining what was planned was delivered)
• Indoor air quality and odours (measurement of the quality against standards)
• Building manuals and user guides (ensuring operators and occupiers understand how they can interact with the building)

This article appears on the BSRIA website under consultancy; building and services investigation as "Wellbeing".

--BSRIA

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• 35 Years of BREEAM and latest V7 mandatory update.
• A case study of adopting BIT-Kit: A method uncovering the impact buildings have on people.
• A measure of net well-being that incorporates the effect of housing environmental impacts.
• Airtightness of energy efficient buildings.
• Adapting 1965-1980 semi-detached dwellings in the UK to reduce summer overheating and the effect of the 2010 Building Regulations.
• BSRIA Briefing 2023. Cleaner Air, Better Tomorrow.
• Characteristics of buildings that impact wellbeing.
• Daylight benefits in healthcare buildings.
• Health and wellbeing impacts of natural and artificial lighting.
• Health and wellbeing at Kings Cross.
• Indoor air quality
• Integrated modelling, simulation and visualisation (MSV) for sustainable built healing environments (BHEs).
• Nuisance in construction.
• Nuisance smells.
• Odours in and around buildings.
• The design of extra care housing for older people and its impact on wellbeing: The East Sussex perspective.
• The daylight factor.
• The impact of the design of the Psychiatric inpatient facility on perceptions of Carer wellbeing.
• The real cost of poor housing.
• Transitioning to eco-cities: Reducing carbon emissions while improving urban welfare.
• The real cost of poor housing.
• Ubiquitous sensors to assess people’s energy consumption and wellbeing in domestic environments.
• Well-being and regeneration: Reflections from Carpenters Estate.
• Wellbeing and buildings.
• Wellbeing in Buildings TG 10/2025.
• Wellbeing and creativity in workplace design - case studies.