A Fundamental Study for the Implementation of Well-being-centric Building Certification Scheme in Korea - Focused on a Comparative Analysis of WELL and Fitwel Certifications -

As the evidence base reveals the multiple impacts of indoor spaces on human health, built environments that promote occupant health and well-being has become the imperative demands of our time. The growing interest in healthy building has led to an expansion of sustainability concepts in the contemporary urban and architectural discourses, as well as the emergence of new assessment tools that specifically designed to address these issues. This study aims to identify the content scope and features of health-related topics covered by well-being centric building certification schemes that have emerged within this background, and to establish a theoretical foundation for the development of certification criteria applicable in Korea. Incorporating the different organizational structures of the internationally accepted WELL and Fitwel standards, seven themes of indoor air quality, thermal comfort, visual and acoustic comfort, activity, healthy eating & drinking, psychological well-being, and social well-being that can be used to re-categorize the content of the two standards were identified through recurring topics in the academic literature. Adopting this as an analytical framework, this study conducted a qualitative comparison of the detailed requirements of the two standards. The results of the study provide reference points and insights that contribute to the implementation of well-being-centric building certification scheme in Korea.