Team Retrofit

WELL office certification: health becomes a financial asset

Certification framework focused on workplace health and well-being: 110 points across 10 concepts, with a direct link to CSRD ESRS S1 requirements.

WELL is not an HR label, it is a financial asset: +4 to +7% rental premium on prime offices (MIT Real Estate Innovation Lab, Devine et al., 2022) for a 3 to 15% construction cost premium. The return-on-investment ratio tips in favour of the asset manager as soon as the residual lease exceeds 6 years. WELL v2 certification, issued by the IWBI, structures 10 health/well-being concepts into 4 levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) across 110 points (WELL v2 framework Q4 2023, IWBI). On a 850 sqm French office floor, the timeline between launching the process and obtaining the label generally runs between 9 and 14 months. Founded in 2006, Kytom frames the audit, scoring and IWBI performance verification to align fit-out, CSRD ESRS S1 reporting and asset value.

WELL v2 certification is based on 10 concepts, more than 100 features and 4 levels (Bronze 40 pts, Silver 50 pts, Gold 60 pts, Platinum 80 pts), in accordance with the WELL v2 framework Q4 2023 published by the IWBI. The framework draws on scientific sources (WHO, ASHRAE 62.1, ANSI) and complements BREEAM (BRE) and HQE (Certivea), which focus on the built environment.

For French office management teams, the challenge is threefold:

Regulatory: the CSRD directive (EU 2022/2464) requires ESRS S1 reporting on working conditions, and the Labour Code (articles R4222-1 et seq.) governs indoor air quality.
Economic: according to INSEE (Tableaux de l’economie francaise, 2024 edition), absenteeism accounts for 4.5% of working time in France, representing around 108 billion euros in direct cost on payroll.
Attractiveness: the quality of spaces influences the engagement of managers, a metric tracked by the Actineo observatory (2023 QWL barometer).

On a premium office portfolio, the trio of HQE Very Good, BREEAM In-Use Excellent and WELL Building Standard covers the environment, operations and occupant well-being. Since 2020, specifications incorporating WELL criteria have clearly multiplied across the office projects we run in France and Spain, driven by CAC 40 head offices and mid-market companies aligning their real estate with their CSR policy.

Our reading differs from the industry’s conventional wisdom on one specific point: WELL is often presented as “the QWL label”, parallel to HQE and BREEAM. In practice, across the projects we have supported in recent years, the most solid ROI comes from the rental premium and asset value appreciation, not the HR gain, which is harder to audit. The asset manager who finances WELL for QWL alone underestimates the rent lever; the HR director who defends it in isolation deprives the decision of the financial arm that makes it profitable.

Is WELL profitable for an asset manager?

The ratio turns positive when the residual lease exceeds 6 years: +4 to +7% rental premium on prime offices (MIT Real Estate Innovation Lab, Devine et al., 2022) against a 3 to 15% construction cost premium. On a 850 sqm floor leased at 450 EUR/sqm/year, this represents around 190,000 EUR capitalised over 10 years.

How long between launch and obtaining the label?

Allow 9 to 14 months between launch and obtaining the WELL label for a 850 sqm office floor. The timeline covers the framing, the scoring of the 10 concepts of the WELL v2 framework and the performance verification conducted under the IWBI protocol. The target level (Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum) is decided at launch, as it determines the volume of evidence to be documented.