Building certification as a driver in green building design : The holistic apporach of WELL

Abstract: Construction industry is based on the evaluation of building environmental impact. The current situation shows buildings reaching high standards in the field of environmental sustainability, but they often neglect occupants' satisfaction. The International Well Building Institute (IWBI) has released a new building standard called WELL, whose aim is to create sustainable buildings paying attention to occupants' health and well-being. The goal of this thesis is to understand what does WELL add to existent building certification systems. There is a large number of certification systems, green codes, green standards and several other kinds of documents that influence the way in which designers think and develop their projects. A research background is carried out to identify their requirements and fields of applicability. The innovative concepts proposed by the IWBI, need to interface with requirements from different regulations or certifications. The gap analysis performed in this work highlights which are the gaps and the overlaps between WELL and Swedish building regulations (BBR), Miljöbyggnad, BREEAM-SE and LEED-IT. The White Arkitekter's office in Stockholm, known as Katsan and certified with Miljöbyggnad Gold, is used as a case study to have a more specific approach to the problem than the general approach provided with the gap analysis. The report shows significant gaps between WELL and the other regulations and certifications, which are reduced when considering the case study. The outcomes for the different standards have been compared and they have evidenced some innovative features present only in WELL. These features answer to the research question and underline what WELL adds to sustainability concepts.