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Glossary
Air quality standards

What is WELL Building Standard?

Definition

The WELL Building Standard is the International WELL Building Institute's performance-based rating for how buildings and interiors affect occupant health, across concepts including air, water, light and thermal comfort.

Who pursues it

Office owners and occupiers, investors, hotels, healthcare, schools and multifamily projects use WELL, on new and existing buildings and on interior fit-outs. Projects meet preconditions in every concept and earn optimizations toward higher levels; the Air concept covers air quality thresholds, ventilation, construction pollution and air quality monitoring.

Verification and renewal cycle

A WELL Performance Testing Agent or assessor tests air, water and light on site before the award, with samples sent to third-party labs. Per IWBI, certified projects then file annual reports, the first within 15 months of certification and every 12 months after, and must recertify no later than three years after the award, with new performance verification.

Air data between performance tests

Performance testing is a snapshot over a few days. aQ AirSafe adds the continuous record in between: CO2, VOC index, temperature and humidity per zone at 60-second refresh, an exposure figure in zone-hours, and a plain-language finding that names the threshold breached. The Health tab shows each sensor's connection rate, which matters when a reviewer asks how complete the record is.

Questions

WELL Building Standard: common questions

WELL is a building certification focused on people rather than resources, run by the International WELL Building Institute. Projects earn certification through documented design features and on-site performance tests across concepts such as air, water, light, thermal comfort and sound. Aqueduct's view is on the WELL compliance page.

LEED rates environmental performance such as energy, water and materials. WELL rates the effect on occupant health, and many projects hold both. Air and thermal comfort data serve both systems, so one monitoring layer can support evidence for each certification at the same time.

IWBI lets projects recertify under their original version or upgrade, and requires moving to the then-current version at the second recertification. Teams planning ahead should check which air thresholds change between versions, since a sensor network may need new parameters.

WELL's air monitoring features look for continuous readings of parameters such as particulate matter, carbon dioxide and VOCs, displayed to occupants or managers. Aqueduct reads these from compatible air quality sensors, and the project team checks sensor accuracy and placement against the version it pursues.

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