Market Transformation through Advocacy
Advancing sound policy solutions to support better buildings and communities that enhance health, equity and well-being.
Across numerous venues and platforms, we are advancing a robust advocacy agenda to lift the voice of our community and bring new legislative ideas to the fore, while also standing up key policy conversations on affordable housing, healthcare facilities, federal buildings, schools and other priority sectors.
Our team engages at the federal, state and local levels to raise awareness among policymakers regarding the link between human health and buildings.
A Global Call to Action for Healthy Buildings
IWBI's International Healthy Building Accord is a global call to action affirming the imperative for healthy buildings, identifying key focus areas and outlining strategic policy actions necessary to accelerate healthy buildings worldwide. The Accord is shaped by contributions from foremost health authorities and informed by an extensive and thorough body of health and buildings research and scientific evidence.
Delivering on People-first Places: Introducing IWBI’s 2023 Annual Report
Explore the significant progress IWBI and its dedicated community has made in advancing healthy buildings and organizations, including details on the global impact and continued momentum of WELL.
Advocating for healthy buildings on Capitol Hill
Our advocacy extends to Capitol Hill, where we engage with national lawmakers who have increasingly set their sights on policy opportunities that can support and advance health and well-being in buildings, organizations and communities.
We are advancing a set of policy priorities positioned to help strengthen our communities and better elevate health across federal investments, including support for critical facility improvements in schools, libraries, healthcare facilities, affordable housing and other critical infrastructure.
The Healthy Workplaces Coalition
Through the recent launch of the Healthy Workplaces Coalition, we brought together nearly 40 national organizations, industry leaders and trade associations to focus on advocating for healthier and safer buildings.
“For the first time, many of the nation’s most important building organizations and leading businesses are uniting to advocate for workplace health.This kind of collaborative advocacy will help drive the level of investment necessary to get us safely back to business now and fortify our workplaces for the future.”
Rachel Hodgdon,
President and CEO, IWBI
“The American Society of Interior Designers is honored to collaborate with industry partners and other members of the Steering Committee to advocate for policies that benefit not only ASID’s membership of interior designers but all those who work and exist in the built environment. We are eager to continue advancing federal policy that supports businesses in this goal to protect the health, safety, and well-being of their employees and other occupants.”
Gary Wheeler,
CEO, American Society of Interior Designers“For the first time, many of the nation’s most important building organizations and leading businesses are uniting to advocate for workplace health.This kind of collaborative advocacy will help drive the level of investment necessary to get us safely back to business now and fortify our workplaces for the future.”
Rachel Hodgdon,
President and CEO, IWBI“For the first time, many of the nation’s most important building organizations and leading businesses are uniting to advocate for workplace health.This kind of collaborative advocacy will help drive the level of investment necessary to get us safely back to business now and fortify our workplaces for the future.”
Rachel Hodgdon,
President and CEO, IWBI“The American Society of Interior Designers is honored to collaborate with industry partners and other members of the Steering Committee to advocate for policies that benefit not only ASID’s membership of interior designers but all those who work and exist in the built environment. We are eager to continue advancing federal policy that supports businesses in this goal to protect the health, safety, and well-being of their employees and other occupants.”
Gary Wheeler,
CEO, American Society of Interior Designers
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Supporting Healthier Cities and Communities
Embracing opportunities to collaborate with cities everywhere in their efforts to create safer, healthier places.
Our local advocacy focuses on efforts to help cities integrate health and well-being across the foundation of their communities. In 2020, we launched a multi-year partnership with the National League of Cities (NLC), the voice of more than 2,400 cities, towns and villages in the United States, representing more than 200 million people. Together, we are working to educate, activate and inspire city leaders, while also exploring new opportunities to encourage cities to demonstrate leadership and address health, safety and equity challenges.
Smart building policies will need to address multiple problems, and health has to be key to the equation.
Brooks Rainwater,
Senior Executive and Director of the Center for City Solutions,
National League of Cities
“It may be surprising for many to learn that we spend approximately 90 percent of our lives in buildings and that the places where we live and work have a profound impact on our health. But that connection has never been clearer than it is today, and as mayors, we are heeding the challenge to support better buildings that will help people thrive.”
Stephen Benjamin,
former mayor of Columbia, SC
“By focusing on WELL principles like abundant natural light, good air quality, and healthy food availability, the City of Austin is leading the way in people-centric building design.”
Lucia Athens,
Chief Sustainability Officer, City of AustinSmart building policies will need to address multiple problems, and health has to be key to the equation.
Brooks Rainwater,
Senior Executive and Director of the Center for City Solutions,
National League of Cities“By focusing on WELL principles like abundant natural light, good air quality, and healthy food availability, the City of Austin is leading the way in people-centric building design.”
Lucia Athens,
Chief Sustainability Officer, City of AustinSmart building policies will need to address multiple problems, and health has to be key to the equation.
Brooks Rainwater,
Senior Executive and Director of the Center for City Solutions,
National League of Cities“It may be surprising for many to learn that we spend approximately 90 percent of our lives in buildings and that the places where we live and work have a profound impact on our health. But that connection has never been clearer than it is today, and as mayors, we are heeding the challenge to support better buildings that will help people thrive.”
Stephen Benjamin,
former mayor of Columbia, SC“By focusing on WELL principles like abundant natural light, good air quality, and healthy food availability, the City of Austin is leading the way in people-centric building design.”
Lucia Athens,
Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Austin
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The WELL City Program
Developing a partnership program to partner to inspire and recognize city leadership
In anticipation of introducing a new WELL City Program in 2023, IWBI launched this year a global network of advisors to help advance human health and equity in cities. The WELL City Advisory is focused on exploring ways to support local governments worldwide in demonstrating leadership on advancing health and well-being across their buildings, organizations and communities. Over the next several months, the Advisory will inform, guide and steer the development of strategies that aim to empower cities to take leadership actions across human health, equity and well-being.
The advisory is led by a group of distinguished co-chairs representing diverse backgrounds, including:
Fighting for the Next Generation
Building Healthier Schools
We want all our school facilities, our children’s home away from home, to be as healthy as they can be. As longtime members of the Building America’s School Infrastructure Coalition (BASIC)—the nation’s leading nonpartisan coalition of organizations that support federal funding for school modernization—we are helping under-served public school districts to build better, healthier schools.
IWBI led an effort to update a seminal report on the State of Our Schools, the nation’s premier resource on the state of K-12 school facilities and their impact on student learning, student and staff health, and equity. The report, produced in partnership with the 21st Century Schools Fund, the National Council on School Facilities, and more than 30 endorsing organizations, found the country was underinvesting in school buildings by a staggering $85 billion every single year.
“We can’t close the opportunity gap if low-income kids go to schools in buildings that undermine health and safety, while wealthier students get access to safe buildings with labs and technology that prepare them for the jobs of the future.”
—Miguel Cardona Education Secretary
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Driving Progress through Partnership
Working together to advance shared policy goals In all our advocacy, we strive to be inclusive, collaborative and intersectional. To that end, we work closely with advocates from across our global community and have forged strong partnerships with several like-minded groups helping us maximize for impact.
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Our Policy Experts
We are transforming health and well-being with our people first approach to buildings, organizations and communities.
International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL Portfolio, WELL Portfolio Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rating, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Workforce, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.
