WELL Building Certification

[rwsaunders]

I know that we have a few design and construction geeks around here so I thought that I would post some information about a project that is nearing completion for us in Vancouver, WA. It's our first Well Certified building Explore the Standard | International WELL Building Institute which I refer to as LEED on steroids, in terms of the design, construction and certification process. As of today there are only 485 of these projects registered in the world and only 93 have been certified, so it's been quite a project for our client and for our team.

Essentially WELL is focused on the health and well being of the building occupant, which is a bit of a departure from LEED, which is more energy, recycling, conservation and material performance oriented imho. LEED had become the new black, and as most of us have been trained to deliver LEED certified projects for the past 15-20 years, I must admit that WELL throws quite a few wrenches into the process. As WELL is defined as "exploring how design, operations and behaviors within the places where we live, work, learn and play can be optimized to advance human health and well-being", it can leave a lot of people including myself as saying "Huh?". You can imagine what the folks in the field have to say.

Anyway, this project has some unique systems integrated into the design such as cross laminated hybrid timber framing, indoor biophilia elements, drinking water filtration, circadian rhythm lighting controls, pre and post occupancy IEQ monitoring, etc. If you are considering taking a project in this direction, you will need resources and help from the outside for sure and the planning process is intense. I'd be happy to share insight into the challenges and benefits of the WELL process and I will admit that I cautioned our client about the intensity and investment required of the project in terms of both fiscal and human capital. They loved the process and they love the product and can't wait to move in, so I consider that a success so far. I'll post finished photos when we close up shop as we always commission professional photos as a part of the process.

[thollandpe]

Wow, that is cool.

I'm in the final stages of submitting our application to get certified under the Living Building Challenge.

The IAQ has been a challenge. 500 ppb is a very low threshold for VOCs and we flunked a few areas. Solved that by bumping up the ventilation schedule, but in one area we had to adopt a low-fragrance policy. At least for the test.

And drinking water has been a bear, when you say "filtration" are you harvesting it from the roof? We are and have been struggling. After a ton of analysis we determined it was the lab giving us flaky results, so we switched labs. I know, every kid who fails a test blames the test, right?

Surprisingly, net zero energy has been relatively easy. Once we got all the meters working (another story for a few pints) the solar PV carried the building just fine.

Does your building have a website?

Todd

[thollandpe]

Please check ours out: BuildingOS

And follow us on Twitter! The Kern Center (@Kern_Center) on Twitter

[davids]

Very cool. I admire the people who've got the resources to really push this envelope.

And speaking of the Living Building Challenge, these guys are my neighbors. A lot smaller than what TH is attempting, but just as weird as Hampshire College!

[JoB]

Very cool. I admire the people who've got the resources to really push this envelope.

And speaking of the Living Building Challenge, these guys are my neighbors. A lot smaller than what TH is attempting, but just as weird as Hampshire College!

No kidding - I used to live on Dresden and then on Boylston between city feed and the mobbed out liquor store. Small world! We have probably run into one another as I used to ride a lot back then.

[davids]

No kidding - I used to live on Dresden and then on Boylston between city feed and the mobbed out liquor store. Small world! We have probably run into one another as I used to ride a lot back then.

Ha! I'm off Chestnut. I bought a sandwich from those glassy-eyed slackers at Lil Feed last night.
I've been here since late '15. Twenty-eight years in Dorchester before that.

[rwsaunders]

Wow, that is cool.

I'm in the final stages of submitting our application to get certified under the Living Building Challenge.

The IAQ has been a challenge. 500 ppb is a very low threshold for VOCs and we flunked a few areas. Solved that by bumping up the ventilation schedule, but in one area we had to adopt a low-fragrance policy. At least for the test.

And drinking water has been a bear, when you say "filtration" are you harvesting it from the roof? We are and have been struggling. After a ton of analysis we determined it was the lab giving us flaky results, so we switched labs. I know, every kid who fails a test blames the test, right?

Surprisingly, net zero energy has been relatively easy. Once we got all the meters working (another story for a few pints) the solar PV carried the building just fine.

Does your building have a website?

Todd

I like your site Todd and no, we don't have a specific building site but I can send our company site, which follows the projects in the blog (Insights) section and posts final project histories. The drinking water is from the city as WELL standards push you in the direction of using city infrastructure with supplementary filtration systems in the building. We are using roof water for the recharging of groundwater and for a water feature as a part of the indoor/outdoor art requirement. Post occupancy monitoring will be a challenge for the client so we are involved in that area as well. The most interesting aspect of the process is that we already had delivered 10 LEED Silver facilities for this particular client. They were ready to "move up" in the green world and they wanted to design a facility who's primary purpose was to retain and attract top talent to their organization.

PS If you ever make it to Pittsburgh, I can arrange a tour for you of Chatham's Eden Hall campus as it's something to see in terms of sustainable design and the direction where this particular school is headed.

Eden Hall Campus | Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA

[j44ke]

Nice looking ceiling! I hope ours looks as good. Actually I hope ours gets built first and then it looks as good.

But we aren’t going for any certification of any sort, other than my wife’s stamp of approval, which is better known as WISTAMP certification.