The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) announced today that it has passed the 500-million-square-foot mark of buildings registered and certified under the WELL Building Standard (WELL).
The milestone quickly follows this month’s earlier announcement that the number of WELL Accredited Professionals (APs) and registrants has exceeded 10,000, further evidence of the accelerating growth of the global movement to help people thrive through better buildings and communities and stronger organizations.
Globally, more than half a billion square feet of projects use WELL in nearly 60 countries. IWBI chair and CEO, Rick Fedrizzi, said with more than 4,000 projects in nearly 60 countries and spanning all space types – offices, schools, hotels, residences and more – it’s clear that this second wave of sustainability has gathered powerful momentum.
“To reach a half-billion square feet of spaces applying WELL is to positively impact the health and well-being of more people in more places and to begin to truly change the narrative around how we design and operate the spaces where we spend our time,” he said.
“So much of WELL’s success is due to our WELL APs and WELL Faculty, an active and growing community that brings education about WELL to colleagues and clients around the world.
“Together with the market reach of our 130+ organizational members, this combined leadership has played a critical role in IWBI’s journey towards market transformation, one that puts the people we care about squarely in the centre of every decision we make.”
Over the course of 2019, nearly four times as many new projects registered to pursue WELL as throughout all of 2018, according to IWBI president, Rachel Gutter.
“Halfway to a billion is one thing, but what’s truly remarkable is the pace of adoption,” she said.
“WELL entered the market in 2014, and it took roughly four years to reach 250 million square feet, but it’s only taken a year to double that to a half-billion. While that’s a potent market signal, it really reflects an unbelievable rise of a dedicated community around the world that is committed to investing in health.”