By India Culleton, LMG

Published on: 2 September 2025

When it comes to smart buildings, we’re used to measuring things like light levels, temperature, energy usage and CO2 emissions. They’re important indicators that point to how a building is performing. The snag is, they don’t tell you much about the people inside or how they feel.

That’s why WELL – a global building rating system that assesses the impact these indicators have on human health, comfort and productivity – is such an important tool. Developed and managed by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), this global standard is about turning intangible human feelings into something more concrete.

Plenty of frameworks have tried to tackle this challenge. But for me, WELL stands out from the crowd. With a global community spanning more than 5 billion ft² of certified space across 130 countries, it’s the industry leader in turning buildings into tools for better health and wellbeing. And it’s why we’re now part of this globally-recognised initiative.

Making the invisible, visible

Applying the WELL methodology through our SenseIQ muti-sensor IoT network has delivered some truly remarkable results. In one case, for example, we identified that a faulty printer was releasing fine particulate matter (PM2.5) affecting air quality for staff nearby.

In another case, sensors picked up spikes in formaldehyde that were traced back to something as mundane as an overripe bunch of bananas. We even managed to trace the root cause of a spate of headaches back to a specific desk where air quality had quietly dipped below acceptable levels.

These are the kinds of problems you’d never spot with the naked eye or traditional approaches to building management. And yet, if left unchecked, they can undermine people’s comfort, focus and well-being.

When you monitor the environment in detail, you start to understand how even small factors can make a big difference to the people in the space. And it affects different groups in different ways.

For tenants, it’s about trust. A WELL-certified building is a sign that an employer or landlord genuinely cares about the people inside. It shows that factors like air quality, sound, lighting and mental wellbeing aren’t just afterthoughts, but built into the fabric of the space. That’s a powerful message in a post-COVID world where expectations around workplace health, comfort and flexibility have shifted dramatically.

For landlords, it’s a smart commercial move. WELL-certified buildings are more attractive to high-quality tenants, more likely to command premium rents and more resilient to regulatory and investor scrutiny. With growing demand for ESG-aligned spaces, WELL offers a clear framework for creating properties that meet ever-higher standards of compliance.

WELL matters for everyone

Ultimately, WELL is about improving space and performance. Healthier spaces mean happier, more productive people, which in turn translates into lower absenteeism, stronger retention and better business outcomes. In other words, WELL isn’t just good for people, it’s good for the bottom line.

But that’s not all. As WELL standards continue to evolve, we’re looking to explore how real-time monitoring tools like SenseIQ could help close the gap between annual audits and daily lived experiences. It’s early days, but already I can see practical applications for an always-on approach.

I’m in no doubt that WELL is helping change the way we think about buildings, not just as assets to manage, but as environments to care for. The more we learn, the more we see how small things can have a big impact. Ultimately, it’s about creating smarter, healthier spaces. And that has to be good for everybody.