Sustainability

All projects are required to establish a waste management plan in which a minimum of 5 structural and nonstructural materials will be diverted from landfills or incineration. A final report detailing all major waste streams, including disposal and diversion rates, will be required to meet this prerequisite’s criteria.

WELL’s second lighting precondition relates to artificial illuminance thresholds. Option 1 requires compliance with one of WELL’s list of lighting reference guides, while option 2 allows for predetermined illuminance levels, depending on setting and occupant age ranges.

WELL’s materials precondition outlines the maximum allowable amounts of hazardous ingredients in newly installed building materials, specifically, allowable levels of asbestos, mercury and lead.

Low emitting materials (EQc2), LEED v4. The LEED low emitting materials credit provides guidance on reducing the presence and concertation of hazardous chemicals, specifically, those chemicals that contribute to diminished air quality, and have detrimental impacts on the environment, human health and productivity.

WELL’s enhanced indoor air quality (IAQ) feature sets a threshold for organic gases detectable in interior spaces. Specifying low or zero VOC finishes and furnishings may result in lower levels of inorganic gases in interior spaces, supporting efforts to achieve this credit through IAQ testing. Enhanced material restrictions (X05), WELL v2. This WELL feature restricts hazardous chemicals found in common building and electrical products. The feature sets specific thresholds for the presence of halogenated flame retardants (HFRs), PFAS, ortho-phthalates, lead, cadmium and mercury.

To meet the criteria of this WELL feature, all spaces must use wet-applied products that are tested by one of WELL’s list of VOC emission testing methods and thresholds, and 75% of the products are third-party tested in compliance with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) v1.2, the Committee for Health-related Evaluation of Building Products (AgBB) or the European Union life-cycle inventory (LCI) VOC thresholds. Or projects can achieve points by specifying products in certain categories that meet WELL’s additional criteria feature.

LEED points can be earned through several methods aimed at reducing the lifecycle impact of a project. Reusing, salvaging and refurbishing nonstructural elements; designing for flexibility and reuse; and ensuring recyclability are a few options for achieving this credit.

Specifying products and materials from manufacturers who have conducted lifecycle analysis and produced an EPD or other multiattribute certifications that cover the same impact categories may meet the criteria of this credit.

Projects are encouraged to use products that disclose information about their raw material supply chains through third-party-verified reports. Material reuse, FSC-certified wood products and certain biobased materials are also considered toward this credit.

This credit addresses the need for chemical transparency in material and product ingredients. Products that disclose ingredients and any associated hazards through HPDs, Declare labels or other multiattribute certifications that address ingredients and supply chain optimization are potential qualifiers for this credit.

Projects that use a minimum percentage of newly installed finish materials and furnishing products with ingredient disclosures may meet this WELL features criteria.

WELL’s material optimization feature rewards points based on the amount of newly installed furnishings and finishes that ensure their ingredients have minimal negative impacts. This outcome is achieved by selecting materials that have been certified with Declare’s Living Building Challenge or Cradle to Cradle or avoided certain benchmarked chemicals.

LEED’s applicable lighting credit awards points to projects that provide occupants with lighting controls in individual occupied spaces or meet 4 of LEED’s criteria for quality lighting.

This WELL lighting feature provides guidance on designing appropriate illuminance on work planes and for the various tasks performed in a space by users of all age ranges.

To be awarded points toward this lighting feature, projects must meet the color rendering and flicker standards as outlined in the credit.

This LEED credit relates to implementation of noise mitigating measures as related to HVAC background noise, sound isolation, reverberation time, and sound reinforcement and masking. To be awarded points, projects must meet the sound transmission class (STC) and reverberation times ratings as outlined in the criteria.

This WELL feature sets the STC or weighted sound reduction index (Rw) ratings, and the noise isolation class (NIC) or weighted difference level (Dw) values for walls and doors to provide adequate sound isolation and speech privacy.

To achieve points towards this WELL feature, projects must meet the minimum NRC established per space type. The aim of this feature is to reduce reverberation and block sound to support concentration and focus.

To manage background noise levels, projects pursuing WELL feature S07 must have floor-ceiling construction that achieves either the minimum impact insulation class (IIC) or the normalized impact sound rating (NISR) per space type.