Air
Core concepts
WELL v2 Air protects occupants from contaminants and ensures adequate outdoor-air ventilation. Preconditions establish the baseline: air quality standards, a smoke-free environment, ventilation, and construction pollution management. Optimizations raise performance through enhanced air quality, enhanced ventilation, monitoring, pollution infiltration management, combustion minimization, source separation, filtration, mold control, and an operating plan.
Think in a control chain: source control → ventilation → filtration/cleaning → monitoring and operations. Source control includes prohibiting smoking and e-cigarettes, isolating printing/cooking/cleaning chemicals, and managing construction dust. Ventilation delivers outdoor air and exhausts stale air; filtration treats recirculated or supplied air. Monitoring only counts when paired with a response plan.
Traps
A common trap is treating ventilation and filtration as interchangeable. Ventilation dilutes and removes contaminants with outdoor air; filtration captures particles or gases. Another trap is assuming construction pollution management ends at occupancy-it covers construction/renovation activities and flush-out. Also separate outdoor-origin pollution (traffic, loading docks) from indoor-origin pollution (cooking, cleaning, office equipment).
Rule of thumb
If the pollutant enters from outside, think pollution infiltration management; if it is generated indoors, think source separation or combustion minimization.
Worked example
A project near a highway proposes higher MERV filtration. Filtration helps, but the infiltration feature expects entry-path controls: seals, vestibules, positive pressure, and intake placement. Pair filtration with infiltration management rather than relying on filters alone.