WELL Certification: Setting New Standards for a Healthier Tomorrow
Explore how a groundbreaking health care facility achieved WELL Gold certification—setting a new standard for sustainable design that prioritizes patient well-being, environmental performance, and future-ready care.
About the live course
When faced with an inefficient building that could no longer meet patient needs or provide required services, SSM Health set a new industry standard. The SSM Health Dean Medical Group’s South Madison Campus is the largest health care facility in the United States and the first in Wisconsin to achieve WELL v2 Pilot GOLD Certification, demonstrating a profound commitment to patient and employee health and well-being.
The 175,000-square-foot outpatient clinic consolidates over 18 specialty services, including oncology, orthopedics, and therapy, in a highly functional, sustainable building. The design emphasizes environmental stewardship, occupant health, and comfort, incorporating features such as natural daylight, views of nature, and air quality improvements. The building scored highly across all ten WELL Building Certification categories, including air, nourishment, light, and movement. With a focus on health at every level in both the design and operations, this clinic achieves industry-leading wellbeing targets, exceeds Wisconsin’s energy codes, and includes provisions for future expansions and operations.
This session will highlight design strategies that lead to achieving premier sustainability goals, such as WELL Building standards. Specifically, how the design at SSM Health Dean Medical Group’s South Madison Campus has created healthier, more sustainable spaces for patients and staff.
- Learn about how the principles of WELL Certification were applied to the largest health care facility in the United States to enhance the patient and employee health and well-being.
- Recognize how the incorporation of features such as natural daylight, views of nature, and air quality improvements was able to enhance environmental stewardship, occupant health, and overall comfort of the facility.
- Understand how meeting the WELL Building standards in the categories of air, nourishment, light, and movement ultimately exceeded Wisconsin’s energy codes and created a more sustainable set of buildings.
- Learn about how certain features from NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code) and the 2022 FGI Guidelines were applied across a range of specialties, such as oncology, orthopedics, and therapy, related to both the design and operational needs of building occupants.
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