WELL Building Standard Officially Launches

The International Well Building Institute (IWBI) officially launched the WELL Building Standard at its inaugural WELL Building Symposium in New Orleans. Billed as “the world’s first building standard to focus on enhancing people’s health and well-being through the built environment,” Version 1.0 of the standard was released following a two-year pilot period (see Make Your Buildings WELL: A New Design Standard for Health).

Over the last two years, the WELL program has moved from the margins of the green building movement to a high-profile launch. With its symposium helping to open the 2014 Greenbuild conference—including a welcome address from Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), which recently signed on to certify WELL projects—WELL is positioned as a leader in the growing wave of interest in healthy homes and workplaces.