IWBI Launches Peer Review Process for the WELL Building Standard

New York—The International Well Building Institute (IWBI) today launched a peer review process for the WELL Building Standard^®. The Peer Review process will include three phases—a scientific, practitioner and medical review—and will culminate in the release of v1.0 of the WELL Building Standard late this year. The first phase of this process—a thorough review of the underlying science behind the WELL Building Standard —was announced today.

During this first phase, researchers including Dr. Timothy Robert McAuley (internationally recognized air quality and human health exposure assessment expert), Dr. Katherine von Stackelberg (human health and ecological risk assessor) and Dr. Robert Oxeman (Director of the Sleep to Live Institute) will review and respond specifically to performance benchmarks set by the WELL Building Standard, such as air and water contaminants, the relationship between indoor lighting and our circadian rhythm, and mold and other biological contaminants.

Later this summer, the WELL Building Standard will complete two additional steps in the Peer Review process towards v1.0, which will include engaging with leading building and medical practitioners for further review and refinement of the standard. The resulting v1.0 of the WELL Building Standard will be publically available following the conclusion of the Peer Review, which will be completed later this year.

The Peer Review process will be transparent, and will include a published roster of contributing physicians, researchers, and practitioners. In addition, aggregated comments from the Peer Review will be published online, together with how the WELL Building Standard evolved as a result of this input.

The WELL Building Standard is an evidence-based standard created through six years of research and development working with researchers and physicians from leading medical institutions and expert practitioners from the building industry. Currently in pilot phase, the WELL Building Standard sets performance requirements in seven categories: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind. Administered by the International WELL Building Institute and committed to third-party certification through the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), the WELL Building Standard applies to commercial and institutional projects. Potential pilot projects are encouraged to contact IWBI through http://www.WELLBuildingInstitute.com.

Current WELL pilot projects include the William Jefferson Clinton Children’s Center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Named in honor of President Clinton, the children’s center and orphanage will be LEED Platinum and WELL certified. Another key pilot project includes CBRE Group’s new Global Corporate Headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. Unveiled in November 2013, CBRE’s new headquarters is the world’s first commercial office building to be both LEED Gold and WELL certified.

Medical Peer Reviewers for phase one include the following:

Air

Dr. Timothy Robert McAuley

Dr. Timothy R. McAuley is the Board Chairman and Chief Executive Manager of CHANGE, a certified Veteran Owned Small Business headquartered in upstate New York. Dr. McAuley is a highly respected and internationally recognized expert in air quality and human health exposure assessment. He has directed, managed, and consulted on several domestic and global consulting and research studies in the areas of air quality and human health exposure and risk assessments. Dr. McAuley’s peer reviewed and published research includes understanding traffic dynamics through the interpretation of near roadside and downwind pollution gradients of various mobile source air toxins, ultrafine particles, and gases produced from combustion leading to acute and chronic health effects. As a result of his work and contributions to the environmental field, Dr. McAuley has been invited to give several key note speeches and has become a global resource for environmental forward thinking and a leader in his field. He is also currently an elected member by his peers to several national Ambient and Indoor Air Quality Committees, American Chemical Society Committee on Environmental Initiatives, Board Member of the College of Saint Rose, a member of the American Heart Association Special Committee on Pollution and Human Health, and several Air and Waste Management committees including NENY Board of Directors. Recently, Dr. McAuley was reappointed to a second term on the prestigious Transportation Research Board, Committee on Transportation and Air Quality at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington. He is also a member of several subcommittees at the National Academies in the areas of air quality, human health, and environmental impacts to transportation.

Affiliated Institutions: CHANGE

Air

Ellen Tohn

Ellen Tohn is an environmental and health consultant with over 25 years of experience. She is the founder and principal of Tohn Environmental Strategies and a nationally recognized expert in housing based environmental health threats, green and healthy housing, indoor air quality, and lead poisoning prevention. Tohn works with housing developers, owners and managers to create green and healthy housing and develop the nationally recognized “One Touch” approach. She has helped health advocates catalyze effective policy solutions; designed green and energy efficient programs that incorporate health protections; developed Federal and local training courses; and managed environmental health research studies. Tohn served as an advisor on indoor air quality issues to the US Green Building Council’s LEED program, Enterprise Green Communities, EPA, the Department of Energy, and numerous other green building programs. Tohn is a nationally recognized trainer on green and healthy housing; having provided professional development to over 7,000 industry professionals. She received her BA from Cornell University and holds a Masters of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is a member of the Wayland MA Energy Initiatives Advisory Committee.

Affiliated Institutions: Tohn Environmental Strategies

Water

Dr. Katherine von Stackelberg

Dr. Katherine von Stackelberg has over 25 years experience as a human health and ecological risk assessor, including expertise in toxicology, epidemiology, ecology, decision sciences, ecosystem services, bioaccumulation modeling, and contaminated sediments. She has an AB, ScM, and ScD from Harvard University in environmental science and risk management. She serves as Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the US Environmental Protection Agency, Chair of the global science committee of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and is an elected Officer (Treasurer) for the Society for Risk Analysis. She serves on the editorial boards of Risk Analysis and Human and Ecological Risk Assessment and as a peer reviewer for numerous other journals as well as various US EPA grant programs.

Affiliated Institutions: Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, NEK Associates

Nourishment

Dr. Kevin Hall

Dr. Kevin Hall received his Ph.D. in Physics at McGill University in 1999 for the development of novel mathematical methods to diagnose and control cardiac arrhythmias. From 1999 to 2003, he led the development of a mathematical model of human metabolism and type 2 diabetes at Entelos Inc., and this model has been used by major pharmaceutical companies to assist in the research and development of new drugs. Dr. Hall joined the National Institutes of Health in 2003 and is now a tenured Senior Investigator at the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases. His main research interests are nutrition, macronutrient metabolism, energy balance, and the determinants of food intake and body weight regulation. Dr. Hall’s laboratory performs experiments in humans and rodents and develops mathematical models and computer simulations to help design, predict, and interpret the experimental data. Dr. Hall’s mathematical models of human body weight dynamics have been used to quantify the energy imbalance underlying the obesity epidemic and predict how interventions will impact body weight and composition in individuals as well as entire populations. Dr. Hall is the recipient of the NIH Director’s Award, the NIDDK Director’s Award, the Lilly Scientific Achievement Award from The Obesity Society, the Guyton Award for Excellence in Integrative Physiology from the American Society of Physiology, and his award-winning Body Weight Simulator (http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov) has been used by more than a million people to help predict how diet and physical activity dynamically interact to affect human body weight.

Affiliated Institutions: NIH—National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive Kidney Diseases

Fitness

Dr. Jonathan Little

Dr. Jonathan Little is an exercise physiologist who specializes in optimizing exercise training for improving health. His research has shown that brief, vigorous bursts of exercise can be particularly effective for improving skeletal muscle metabolism, functional performance, and metabolic health in a variety of populations, ranging from young healthy adults to individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Affiliated Institutions: University of British Columbia

Comfort – Acoustics

Christopher Pollock, PE, CTS, LEED AP

Christopher Pollock is a design leader in the field of acoustics, noise and vibration consulting, with over 15 years of experience in HVAC noise control, vibration isolation, footfall noise control, sound insulation, and noise consent applications in all areas of construction from healthcare, to K-12, higher education to corporate and government facilities.

Pollock is an experienced project manager, developing technical capabilities and procedures for all aspects of the built environment and low voltage systems for Audiovisual/ Telecommunications/ IT/Security Systems and Medical Equipment planning. An expert on understanding how to assess client needs, he works closely with all team members to develop criteria at the early stages of design, with a focus on providing effective solutions.

A frequent presenter, Pollock’s recent topics include “Acoustical Planning and Strategy for the Future Workplace” and “The impact of high noise level sites with specific review of office, residence and hospitality projects and their solutions.”

Affiliated Institutions: Cerami & Associates, Inc.

Comfort – Ergonomics

Dr. Robert Oexman

Dr. Robert Oexman, D.C., is Director of the Sleep to Live Institute in Joplin, Missouri. He oversees the Institute’s research studies, particularly the impact of the sleep environment on quality of sleep. At the Institute, Dr. Oexman helped develop bedMATCH, a patented system using 6 million people profiles, 18 statistical measurements and over 1,000 calculations to assist consumers in determining the best mattress and pillow options for their body type. He received his Chiropractic degree and was in private practice for four years before joining Leggett & Platt, Inc. While there, Dr. Oexman developed and managed an ergonomic research center focused on bedding, furniture and automotive seating. Dr. Oexman has worked on research projects at major universities across the U.S. He also lectures nationally and internationally on the topic of sleep and how the environment impacts sleep. He received his Doctor of Chiropractic from Cleveland Chiropractic College in Kansas City, and his Master of Business Administration from Missouri State University. Dr. Oexman is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Missouri State Chiropractic Association. He received his postgraduate training at the Sleep Medicine Center in Stanford, California.

Affiliated Institutions: Sleep to Live Institute

Comfort – Materials

Dr. Megan Schwarzman

Dr. Megan Schwarzman’s work focuses on endocrine disrupting substances, reproductive environmental health, U.S. and European chemicals policy, and how to use environmental health knowledge to design safety and sustainability into the chemical building blocks of materials. She works to extend this knowledge to inform education, public policy, and the research community. Dr. Schwarzman is a research scientist at the Center for the Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), in UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and serves as Associate Director of Health and Environment for the interdisciplinary Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry. She also serves as an associate physician for University of California, San Francisco and sees patients at San Francisco General Hospital.

Dr. Schwarzman earned her medical degree from the University of Massachusetts, completed her specialty training in Family Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and earned a master’s of public health from the University of California, Berkeley.

Affiliated Institutions: UC Berkeley’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), San Francisco General Hospital

Comfort – Surfaces

Jason Garay

Jason Garay is currently the Director of Cancer Screening at Cancer Care Ontario. Within his portfolio, Pollock is responsible for the scientific leadership driving Ontario’s cancer screening program. Prior to joining Cancer Care Ontario, Pollock was the director of communicable Disease Prevention and Control at Public Health Ontario, responsible for leading provincial management and responses to cases and outbreaks of infectious disease. Garay is a graduate of the MHSc program in Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine. Following graduation, Pollock practiced as an epidemiologist specializing in communicable diseases within local public health response. He then moved to the York Region as Manager of Surveillance for several years, charged with monitoring and tracking infectious diseases across the population. Pollock is the past president, and vice president, of the Association of Public Health Epidemiologists in Ontario and Chair of the Pan Canadian Epidemiology Network. Garay also holds faculty appointments at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and teaches in the areas of Health Trends and Surveillance and Communicable Disease Epidemiology.

Affiliated Institutions: Cancer Care Ontario, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Mind

Dr. Keith Roach

Dr. Keith Roach has a degree in molecular biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.D. from the University of Chicago. Dr. Roach spent over twenty years in academic medicine as a teacher and practitioner of general internal medicine, with publications in prevention of disease and screening. Together with Dr. Michael Roizen, Dr. Roach created the RealAge test, a validated predictor of health outcomes taken by more than 35 million people. Dr. Roach is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College, Chief Medical Officer for Sharecare, and a syndicated health columnist.

Affiliated Institutions: ShareCare, Weill-Cornell Medical College