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Latest WELL Building Standards Press Release – IWBI

  • March 27 2026
  • Jonah Jean

Have you been keeping up to date with the latest Australian news on the WELL Building Standard?  Check out the latest press release from the IWBI last week (original press release here), provided by our very own WELL AP, Faculty and Community concept advisor Jay Dee Dearness.

WELL PRESS RELEASE
IWBI Named to Fast Company’s Annual List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2019

WELL continues meteoric uptake, now boasts more than 300 million square feet of registered and certified space in 48 countries and counting.

(SYDNEY – February 26, 2019) –The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has been named to Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies roster, carrying last year’s momentum around WELL full force into 2019.  The list honors businesses making the most profound impact on both industry and culture. IWBI leads the global movement to transform our buildings and communities to help deliver health and wellbeing for all.

“In 2018, we launched WELL v2, stood up the Portfolio program for existing buildings, expanded our geographic footprint, and crossed some big adoption milestones across industries and sectors,” said IWBI Chairman and CEO Rick Fedrizzi. “That success is built firmly on an internal culture of innovation – in our product, in our delivery model, and in how we engage with our customers.  To be named No. 6 in the wellness category on a list that includes leaders like Peloton and Parsley Health is humbling and gratifying.”

Fedrizzi noted that in 2018, IWBI registered more than 12.4 million square metres, which is 108% growth over 2017. Of this, almost half came from portfolios and returning clients, with the rest being individual projects. “In 2018, we supported 82 projects through to certification, which is a 78% increase over 2017. Certified square meterage has grown 203% over 2017,” Fedrizzi said.
Notable WELL certifications and achievements in 2018 included:
  • Australia’s first platinum certified projects, and first dual certified project at the same property: Platinum WELL Certification for all three International Towers at Barangaroo by Lendlease APPF, and Platinum WELL Certification for Lendlease’s Global Headquarters
  • First certified government project in Australia (Worksafe Victoria)
  • First project to pursue WELL Community Standard certification (Lot Fourteen by Renewal SA)
  • Five participants in the WELL Portfolio Pilot program
  • Eight representatives participating on the WELL Concept Advisories
  • Major end user clients: King and Wood Mallesons, National Australia Bank, City of Melbourne
  • Registered projects in Australia surpassed the 2 million square metre mark, and registered projects internationally surpassed 20 million square metres.
“Our amazing WELL AP community gets a lot of the credit for our continued uptake,” said Fedrizzi.  “Today we have more than 7,500 WELL APs and aspirants across the globe, and the launch of WELL v2 has inspired many people to step up to the rigor and the rewards of this level of engagement with WELL.”
Fedrizzi noted that what sets WELL apart is its requirement for performance testing. “We evaluate more than 60 performance indicators, requiring over 20 tests and using more than 10 pieces of equipment to actually verify the performance of your space.  Leaders don’t want to guess – they need to know.”
“With the launch of WELL v2, which we built alongside our customers, with the Portfolio program underway with almost 30 global participants, new marketing and sales tools, inspiring educational content, new research and ROI data and a reimagined WELL project platform that delivers value as soon as a project enters into the system, we’re looking forward to continued growth,” said Fedrizzi.  “More importantly, we’re excited to be the catalyst for a second wave of sustainability built on human health and wellness through buildings that help people thrive.”
“Given the size of the Australian market and our relatively small population, closing 2018 with Australia as the third largest market for registered WELL projects globally is not only an incredible achievement, it is a testament to the dedication of those working on WELL projects across the country,” said Jack Noonan, IWBI’s Vice President, Australia and New Zealand. “Beyond the numbers, we’ve built a local community around WELL that is passionate about progressing health and well-being across our buildings. This community is diverse, innovative, and they are committed to ensuring that WELL is relevant and accessible for all Australians.”

About IWBI and WELL
The International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™) is leading the global movement to transform our buildings and communities in ways that help people thrive. The WELL v2™ Pilot is a recently launched version of its popular WELL Building Standard™ (WELL™), and the WELL Community Standard™ pilot is a district scale rating system that sets a new global benchmark for healthy communities. WELL is focused exclusively on the ways that buildings and communities, and everything in them, can improve our comfort, drive better choices and generally enhance, not compromise, our health and wellness. IWBI convenes and mobilizes the wellness real estate community through managementof the WELL AP™ credential, the pursuit of applicable research, the development of educational resources and advocacy for policies that promote health and wellness everywhere.
Want to know more about WELL through SEED?

If you are a designer or just curious to hear more about how to leverage WELL’s flexible framework for improving health and human experience through design, then book yourself in for a free introduction to the new and improved WELL v2!  Worth 1 CPD point and available across Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Read more about this opportunity here.

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