Reporting Guide
The WELL Building Standard (WELL) is your roadmap for measuring and reporting on
human and social capital performance. Use this guide to learn how to leverage your
WELL achievements to enhance your annual, ESG and sustainability storytelling.
Browse examples of how WELL has been included
1 in ESG, CSR and sustainability reports.
Themes and uses include:
• Health, well-being and equity as a topline theme that serves as the foundation of the entire
report structure.
• The application of WELL strategies in existing report sections dedicated to sustainability
efforts, including (but not limited to) Response to Health Crises, Environmental
Performance, Climate Change, People and Community, Inclusion and Diversity,
Demonstrating Excellence in ESG, Organizational Strategy, Employee Wellness, Partnership
and Engagement, Sustainable Progress, etc.
• New sections dedicated to health, well-being and equity performance throughout the
people chain-activities that organizations are coordinating for customers, employees,
communities and other stakeholders; highlighting WELL as a key strategy for making
improvements and for measuring progress over time.
• The application of WELL strategies into long-term ESG KPIs and sustainability roadmaps.
• The use of WELL in sustainable finance frameworks and validation through second party
opinions (SPOs).
• The promotion of key human and social capital competencies, metrics and milestones that
are delivered in WELL’s annual review reports for organizations.
Login to your dashboard to access performance metrics and
2 achievement milestones found in your annual review reports.
3 Scan your WELL reports, identify your organization’s achievements
and integrate them into your ESG reporting and storytelling.
WELL Score and WELL at scale
For organizations that enroll in WELL at scale at the enterprise level, the WELL Score is
a number out of 100 that reflects the WELL strategies earned across all of an enterprise’s
locations, weighted by the number of people impacted by those achievements. Over time,
this score can be contextualized by industry, region, fund, and location use-types, and will
provide a ranking in one of these areas.
Meanwhile, organizations that commit to WELL at scale show their dedication to measuring
and improving health and well-being across multiple locations, providing an efficient and
impactful organizational approach to health.
An organization with a WELL score might represent leadership in reporting by leveraging the
sample narrative below:
In the last year, our organization achieved a WELL Score of x, representing an overarching
commitment to the sustainability and well-being of our clients, employees and the spaces that
they occupy. The score is a metric that accrues over a period of time, as health-focused WELL
strategies are achieved across all locations.
Over the last x years, we have incorporated WELL Certification, the WELL Health-Safety
Rating, and others across x of our [locations, projects, etc.]. These achievements have all
strengthened our communities by promoting better air quality, providing access to nutritious
food options and ensuring that spaces are properly cleaned and sanitized. Based on weekly
traffic of x through x of our certified buildings, these efforts positively impact the physical,
mental and emotional well-being of [hundreds, thousands, etc.] of our people on a daily basis.
Download example client reports that highlight WELL Score and/or WELL at scale participation:
• Citi 2021 ESG Report: page 53
• Embassy REIT 2021-2022 Annual Report: page 53, 131
• CBUS Property 2022 Sustainable Finance Framework: page 5, 7
• Herman Miller Better World Report 2021: page 9
• Castellum 2021 Annual and Sustainability Report: page 4, 10, 52, 61
WELL Certification
Locations earn this marquee achievement through required on-site
testing of multiple parameters, along with a rigorous review of the
location’s design attributes, maintenance protocols and personnel
policies. Achievements are awarded at Bronze, Silver, Gold and
Platinum levels based on the total number of health-promoting
strategies that a location has earned. Certifications are renewed over
time to ensure that these locations remain high-performing and meet
the needs of people as time goes on. This level of commitment is unique
and demonstrates a high value to employees that other certifications
often neglect after a fit-out is complete. A location that has not yet
been tested on-site or has not yet completed construction may achieve
a WELL Precertification as an interim designation until those items are completed.
An organization with a WELL Certification achievement might represent leadership in ESG and
sustainability reporting with the sample text below:
In our commitment to the health and well-being of [x organization] stakeholders, we pursued and
achieved WELL Certification at x properties across our portfolio in 2022.
This certification draws on more than seven years of research and development from leading
physicians, scientists and industry professionals. The WELL Building Standard is a performance-
based certification system that marries best practices in design and construction with evidence-
based research across ten categories of building performance — Air, Water, Nourishment, Light,
Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind and Community.
Download example client reports that highlight WELL Certification:
• Pfizer 2021 ESG Report: page 22
• Planet Fitness 2021 ESG Report: page 3, 22
• Shimizu Corporate Report 2021: page 48, 54, 58
• Skanska Annual and Sustainability Report 2021: page 35, 52, 73, 77, 91, 94
• Swire Properties Sustainable Development Report 2021: page 4, 13, 36, 39, 48, 63, 129,
162, 163, 165, 198, 213
WELL Ratings
WELL Ratings are an important designation that a location can earn
to showcase progress on a subset of WELL features on their journey
toward WELL Certification. Specialty ratings are earned and renewed
over time, providing teams with key goals and an ongoing expectation
of performance that they can meet to demonstrate excellence. WELL
Ratings include the existing WELL Health-Safety Rating and WELL
Performance Rating, as well as the upcoming WELL Equity Rating.
An organization with a rating achievement might represent leadership
in ESG and sustainability reporting with the sample text below:
In our commitment to the health and well-being of [x organization]
stakeholders, we pursued and achieved the WELL Health-Safety Rating at x properties across
our portfolio in 2022.
Informed by the WELL Building Standard and more than 600 scientists, practitioners and
other experts, the WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management helps
buildings and organizations address the health, safety and well-being of their most valuable
asset—people. The achievement of the WELL Health-Safety Rating is a visible indication of
confidence and trust, and the WELL Health-Safety seal communicates to all of our people
entering the space that evidence-based measures have been adopted and third-party verified.
Achieving these ratings is emblematic of our leadership’s understanding of the connection
between the buildings where we spend approximately 90 percent of our time, and the health
and well-being impacts on the people inside these buildings. This knowledge base proved a
pivotal component to our ESG and human and social capital management strategy.
Download example client reports that highlight WELL Ratings:
• JP Morgan & Chase 2021 ESG Report: page 18
• Hines 2021 ESG Report: page 49
• Standard Chartered Bank 2021 Annual Report: page 74
• Dream 2020-2021 Sustainability Report: page 55, 65, 70, 74
• GMP 2020 Annual Report: page 67, 77, 79, 85, 89, 93, 95, 96, 108, 115, 121
WELL Features & Concepts
WELL features or strategies: Each strategy in WELL is based on research that reveals its impact
on human health, meaning that the organization is taking a data-driven approach to how it deploys
health and well-being initiatives. You may wish to showcase specific WELL feature achievements
if they reflect a new org-wide offering, if the strategy is generally perceived as ambitious for your
location or industry, if the strategy carries a high point-value, if it is listed as a novel “beta” feature or
if it is particularly innovative.
.
WELL concepts: All strategies of WELL are allocated to one of 10 health-focus areas (air, water,
nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind, community), and the report will
provide an average achievement in each of these areas. Alternatively, you may wish to reposition this
more broadly by highlighting themes that address strategies in multiple concept areas, reflecting how WELL
takes a holistic and multi-faceted approach to promoting health.
Download example client reports that highlight WELL concepts:
• SL Green 2021 ESG Report: page 26
• Uber 2020 ESG Report: page 36
• Castellum 2020 Annual Report: page 11, 31
• Centene Corporation 2020 Environmental, Social, Health & Governance Report: page 25
Learn how WELL achievements contribute to broader market leadership
4 by browsing alignment guidance with other leading sustainability and
ESG frameworks like GRI, the UN SDGs and GRESB.
Based on our internal review and comparison, IWBI found that:
• 80% of WELL is aligned with at least one of the UN SDGs.
• Strategies in WELL can contribute to or impact the results of approximately one-fifth of the
GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards, including approximately half of the topic-specific
Standards in the social category (400-series).
• Features in WELL align with 38.5% of the 2022 GRESB Real Estate Assessment. The WELL
Standard fully, partially or slightly addresses 47 of the 83 GRESB Real Estate indicators
• Strategies in WELL can contribute to or impact the results of approximately a quarter of
the S&P Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) banking sector questions, including
approximately half in the Social Dimension.
• Strategies in WELL can contribute to or impact the results of approximately one-sixth of
the metrics in the IRIS+ 5.1 Catalog, including almost half of the metrics in the Operational
Impact category (OI-series).
The mapping results above demonstrate that WELL can be a powerful roadmap for organizations
to improve and report on ESG performance. Browse more detailed resources below:
• WELL & ESG Client Onboarding Deck
• WELL & SDG Alignment
• 2022 GRESB Real Estate Assessment & WELL
• IWBI Investing for Health Initiative
• The 12 Competencies for Measuring Health & Well-being for Human & Social Capital
• IWBI Deloitte White Papers:
• Well-being: A New Cornerstone for ESG Reporting and Strategy
• Well-being: Moving from Effort to Effect
• For exclusive benefits for WELL Enterprise Providers and WELL at scale clients, please
check our WELL-ESG Knowledge Base
Reach out to your WELL coaching team for additional guidance
5 and graphic support that can further enhance your narrative.
We’re here to help!
6 Report this year, plan for next.
Leading companies are already leveraging WELL as a competitive edge for their long-term
development. They are going beyond the traditional approach of mentioning WELL in annual
reports, by adopting WELL as a corporate strategy, an ESG KPI, a component in sustainable
finance frameworks and more.
For example, Citigroup incorporated WELL into their 2025 Global Footprint Goals; Herman
Miller showcased WELL’s value for creating a more equitable and inclusive workplace;
Embassy REIT highlighted WELL in the CEO’s Statement of the 2021 Annual Report; Sino
Land mentioned WELL as a core strategy for climate risk mitigation, as well as incorporated
WELL into their 2030 Sustainability Vision and linked it with their sustainability-linked loan to
potentially unlock a lower loan interest rate.
We anticipate our enterprise clients will continue to incorporate WELL criteria into their
organizational strategy, reporting and financing to as ESG (and human and social capital
management in particular) becomes an increasingly mainstream focus for regulators, investors,
consumers, employees and other key stakeholders. The proposed EU Social Taxonomy
draft, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Requirement (SFDR), the Corporate Sustainability
Reporting Directive (CSRD), the U.S. SEC’s proposed climate risk disclosure rules and
expansion of human capital disclosure requirement as well as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s
mandatory disclosure requirement on eight social pillars are all clear indicators that this
movement is growing and impacting markets worldwide.
IWBI is preparing a suite of resources and opportunities to help clients leverage their
engagement with WELL along with other resources to consider and operationalize in their
ESG goals. We hope WELL continues to be a valuable resource for the central part of your
annual reporting, and we look forward to exploring ways to use WELL as part of your strategic
sustainability roadmap for your organization’s long-term development.
By providing the information and materials above, IWBI is not rendering investment, legal or other professional advice or services and these materials are not a substitute
for any such services; IWBI shall not be responsible for the use of or any action taken or inaction occurring in reliance on these materials.
International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL Portfolio, WELL Score, The WELL Conference, We
Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rating, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Equity, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Performance Rating,
Works with WELL, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and
other countries.
W E L LC E RT I F I E [Link] M
