WELL certification consultancy

Strategy through Performance Verification

WELL is the dominant standard for measuring how a building affects the people inside it. Administered by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and assessed by GBCI — the same body that certifies LEED — WELL evaluates buildings across ten concept categories anchored to peer-reviewed health science. Unlike most green building standards, WELL is performance-based: certification requires on-site testing of air, water, light, and sound by a qualified Performance Testing Agent.

ISG embeds WELL into our existing LEED and BREEAM workflows so clients pursuing dual certification do not pay for duplicate documentation. Our team holds WELL AP credentials and works with regional Performance Testing Agents to manage the verification process end to end. This is particularly important for UAE projects, where indoor air quality and acoustic conditions face challenges no checklist alone can resolve.

• Pre-certification strategy — early-stage feasibility, target level analysis, and integration with LEED or local certification pathways
• Design integration — concept-by-concept design support across Air, Water, Light, Sound, Thermal Comfort, and Materials
• Documentation management — WELL Online evidence, narratives, and feature-by-feature submissions
• Performance Verification coordination — engaging the WELL Performance Testing Agent, scheduling site testing, and resolving non-conformances before final scoring

Read the ISG WELL Guide

Ten concepts, one occupant outcome

WELL v2 organises the standard into ten concepts: Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind, and Community, with an additional Innovations category for project-specific strategies. Each concept contains preconditions that every project must meet, plus optimizations that earn points toward Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum certification.

The standard is delivered through several rating systems for different asset types and use cases: WELL Building Standard for whole-building certification, WELL for Communities for masterplans and districts, the WELL Performance Rating for operational metrics, the WELL Equity Rating for inclusive workplace policies, and the WELL Health-Safety Rating for facilities and operational protocols. ISG advises on the right pathway based on asset type, tenant profile, and the operational data available at certification.

For UAE projects, WELL pre-certification is increasingly requested by Mubadala-affiliated assets, multinational corporate tenants taking space in DIFC and ADGM, and hospitality operators positioning around guest wellness. The standard is voluntary in every market we operate in — clients pursue it because tenants, employees, and guests now read certifications as a quality signal.