Exciting things are happening at Ariva! With their gates soon to be open to an active, healthy, socially connected community, they are thrilled about an exciting new project they are currently pursuing with the WELL program. Ariva is seeking to obtain International WELL Building Standard Certification (version 2). Achievement of this certification will distinguish Ariva on an international scale and will provide all residents with an optimal living environment that actively works to create a healthy, comfortable lifestyle. The program advocates health and wellness and is perfectly aligned with Ariva’s vision for the residence- creating a healthy, active, socially connected lifestyle and community where people LIVE WELL and PLAY MORE.
The WELL Building Certification was designed through the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). IWBI is leading the movement to promote health and wellness in buildings and communities all across the world with the belief that buildings should be developed with health and wellness at the very center of the design.
IWBI is a public benefit corporation with the goal is to transform buildings, communities and spaces world-wide in ways that allow people to thrive in a prosperous, healthy environment. IWBI is the first company to exclusively focus on the ways in which buildings and their encompassing environments can enhance comfort levels, improve good decision making and generally advance the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
WELL Building Standard
The WELL Building Standard that IWBI created is the premier standard for features that support and advance human health and wellness for buildings, communities and interior spaces. WELL was developed through a rigorous process that involved integrating medical and scientific research and literature on health, behaviour, and risk factors that affect human health in regard to building design, construction and management. To achieve potential high ratings, the WELL Building Standard Certification underwent an exhaustive three-phase peer review process –scientific, practitioner and medical review– to ensure the greatest level of accuracy was achieved. WELL is in use by over 4,000 projects in more than 60 countries, encompassing over half a billion square feet of real estate around the world.
WELL utilizes strategies that have a goal to improve health and wellness through the setting of performance standards for operational protocols and policies, design, interventions and a dedication to building a healthy culture with a strong focus on wellness. The standard provides a framework that allow communities to improve human experience and livelihood through a strategically designed environment. This framework is designed to support overall human health while encouraging an active, healthy lifestyle.
WELL v2 Certification
The WELL Building Standard was launched a few years ago and many communities have acquired this standard of living and have achieved the WELL Certification. WELL v2 is the second version of the WELL Building Standard, allowing the WELL team to incorporate strategies, information, protocols and procedures from the successes of version one of the WELL Building Standard. WELL v2 draws expertise from thousands of WELL users, practitioners, medical professionals, public health experts and building scientists around the world.
The Well v2 Certification was designed as a distinct scale rating system that sets a new global benchmark for healthy communities. WELL v2 is currently the most well-tested and vetted version of WELL Building Standard and is centered around 10 concepts that impact human health and well-being, these concepts include:
- Air
- Water
- Nourishment
- Light
- Movement
- Thermal comfort
- Sound
- Materials
- Mind
- Community
Each of these concepts are incorporated into the WELL v2 rating system which is backed by relevant scientific research and industry best practices to ensure proper health, comfort and the overall well-being of communities.
Achieving the WELL v2 Certification involves extensive on-site testing, assessments and measurements, and are completed by an authorized WELL Performance Testing Agent. The designated agent typically spends up to 3 days completing a series of performance tests to ensure proper requirements are met.
The Value of a WELL Certification
The WELL Building Standard incorporates extensive research, industry best-practices and the review and feedback from over 150 WELL concept advisors to ensure accuracy and legitimacy of the requirements to become WELL certified. WELL is grounded in a vast body of scientific and medical research that examines the connection between buildings and their impact on the health and wellness of individuals spending time in those buildings.
Did you know that on average, people spend over 90% of their time indoors? That’s a large part of our entire lifetime and there are significant positive and negative effects that an environment can have on your well-being which will in-turn impact your daily life.
Residing in a WELL Certified space ensures that you are spending time in a space that is specifically designed to help you thrive and live in the best version of yourself simply by being there. That is literally their only goal, and with the strict certification requirements, you can be assured that you are in a healthy environment.
Building designers and architects have been majorly influenced by this modern building certificate as it allows the area to be designed in a way that optimizes human wellness. WELL understands that humans thrive in a balanced environment that connects them to nature, and it doesn’t matter where in the world you are residing, our biological needs are the same. WELL works to ensure that wherever in the world you are, those needs can be taken care of in a quality environment in a WELL Certified building.
The pure understanding that people need to be the center of an environment was critical to the development of WELL. When you place humans at the core of design, every decision is made with the wellbeing of the public in mind. This creates a unique atmosphere of inclusion, community and prosperity. This is what Ariva embodies, and that’s why the WELL v2 Certification is an important step that makes sense to take.
To learn more about WELL and their WELL Building Standard Certifications, check out https://www.wellcertified.com.