In French, “mise en place” is a culinary term referring to having ingredients prepped and cooking tools accessible that can take chefs to a place of cognitive calm before preparing a meal. Similarly, when a building is intentionally designed, elements of a building can have a positive effect on the mental health and well-being of the occupants, according to research conducted by the International WELL Building Institute. The research is especially relevant as employers give new emphasis to employee mental health and well-being in stressful times amid a hoped-for return to normal indoor work and recreation (see p. 16).

The collective effect of a building’s performance on occupants is referred to as indoor environmental quality (IEQ). WELL scores a building’s IEQ health according to its WELL Building Standard by measuring a total of 10 benchmarks—including air, water, nourishment, light, movement, total comfort, material, community and mind.

标准的使用建筑健康”这个词,但我们define it as all parameters in a building performance,” says Gayathri Unnikrishnan, who serves as the New York City-based institute’s concept lead for light. “So not just the air quality,” she explains, which is wrongly seen as the sole cause of “sick building syndrome.”

“We consider a healthy building to be an agent of change for public health. And we know, through decades of research, that thoughtful and intentional strategies in design and operations make a healthy building,” says Unnikrishnan, “and healthy buildings help people strive.”

Most importantly, healthy buildings are people-centered spaces. “This means that the health and well-being of the people inside the building stays at the center of decision-making at all points,” says Unnikrishnan.

Connecting people and nature within a built environment via biophilic design can ease stress and reduce anxiety, according to WELL.

然而，建筑的业务与保持空间健康的设计一样重要，unnikrishnan说。

空气质量是一个例子。“建筑物中的良好空气净化功能可以对待空气以满足已设置的标准。但是，如果这些功能没有经常维护，建筑物实际上可以损害人们的健康，“她解释道。“业务政策绝对必不可少，需要支持心理和身体健康。”

俄勒冈大学建筑部门高性能环境实验室（HIPE）教授和高性能环境实验室（HIPE）教授表示，最健康的建筑物是故意的。

“有很多东西进入需要提前收入的设计，”他说。“例如自然通风。这个想法，如果你要有可操作的窗户或轴，对建筑物的形式有重大影响。“

At Elzeyadi’s HiPE lab, proposed new standards to increase IEQ performance are tested and then results are published for broader review— and to influence client owners to adopt and implement improved and updated standards in their future building projects.

The standard development journey at HiPE lab is far from finished.

“我们正在经常测试这些标准，我们也在提出标准可能被忽视的其他事情，”Elzeyadi说。虽然到目前为止的标准主要是关于舒适性，但在心率和病假等生理影响以及类似的关切，认知性能和压力尚未纳入。

But cognitive performance, stress reduction and everything related to stress recovery are, in Elzeyadi’s view, just as important to well-being in buildings. A better approach is to think about these issues at the beginning of the standard-writing process, including “what the current research findings are, what are the guidelines and what are the trends and evidence that need to be incorporated.”

而且，他的结论是，“我认为是主要差距”，在建设中对标准写作的研究。