International WELL Building Institute launches green building standard

The International WELL Building Institute has launched the WELL Building Standard Version 1.0, which focuses on enhancing people’s health and well-being through the built environment.

The standard is third-party certified through International Well Building Institute’s collaboration with the Green Building Certification Institute, which administers more than 10 billion sf of LEED buildings and the LEED AP program globally. This collaboration ensures that WELL works with LEED.

The release follows a two-year pilot program and peer review process. WELL v1.0 sets performance requirements in seven categories relevant to occupant health and well-being: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind.

The standard can be applied to new construction and major renovations of commercial and institutional buildings, tenant improvements, and core and shell developments. To date, about 7.7 million sf of commercial, institutional and multifamily real estate has been registered for certification through WELL.

(http://www.environmentalleader.com/2014/10/21/well-building-standard-launched/)

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.