Fitwel is the premier certification system for optimizing buildings to improve health and productivity outcomes through targeted improvements to design and operational strategies.
Designed to support a healthier future where every building is enhanced to support the well-being of its occupants and surrounding communities, Fitwel is organized around specific, incremental changes that will foster healthier homes and workplaces, regardless of size, construction year, or location.
In 2018, the standard was updated to respond to the unique characteristics of four distinct project types: single-tenant buildings, multi-tenant base buildings, multi-tenant whole buildings, and commercial interior spaces (i.e., individual tenants). These project types are defined as follows:
Projects that achieve a Fitwel score of 90 or above are considered “Fitwel-certified” at one of three levels:
Fitwel includes 63 evidence-based design and operational strategies that enhance building environments by addressing a broad range of health behaviors and risks. The strategies included in the standard are those with the strongest evidence base and with the highest demonstrated impact on Fitwel’s seven health impacts. Fitwel addresses health as an interconnected system, with no single dominant category or area of focus, and as such, all strategies are voluntary, with no individual prerequisites.
Fitwel Strategies are categorized into the following 12 sections:
The Fitwel Certification System is applicable to workplaces of every type and location, including workplaces that are:
While LEED centers primarily around building infrastructure, both the Fitwel and WELL frameworks center around the client experience and office condition, although not as thorough too, which drives a higher amount of execution and focused differentiation through an increasingly unpredictable procedure at a more expensive rate point (which can be a hindrance for specific tasks)
The Fitwel process is quicker, more affordable, open, automatic, and strongly useful. This is uplifting news for customers with broad portfolios or individuals who might not possess the financial limit or energy for a full WELL certification process yet need to make progressively healthy workplaces.
