“The most effective way to shape your future is to build it yourself.” — Abraham Lincoln
As the leading authority on advancing health and well-being across buildings, organizations, and communities, IWBI continues to champion its core mission: designing spaces that put people first. As we move into a new year, a range of promising developments and milestones will influence how and where we carry out this mission.

So, what will shape our work in 2026? And how will our global network collaborate in new ways? Here are insights from leaders across our organization:

Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO
“The introduction of One WELL—the next evolution of the WELL Standard—marks a major step forward for our platform, helping accelerate the worldwide adoption of people-centered spaces at scale. This progress relies on the strong, independent guidance of the IWBI Governance Council. Their expertise in design, public health, and business ensures the WELL Standard remains credible, robust, and impactful globally. We deeply appreciate their continued dedication.”

Prateek Khanna, Chief Operating Officer
“In 2026, engaging with WELL and advancing along the certification journey will be more seamless and efficient than ever. As the market shifts from awareness to implementation, we’re investing in enhanced digital tools and stronger internal systems. Our goal is to make the WELL experience intuitive and user-friendly while preserving the rigor and trust that define the world’s premier health standard—across projects of all scales and geographies.”

Ann Marie Aguilar, Senior Vice President, EMEA
“Reaching 105 million square meters of WELL-certified space across EMEA provides a strong foundation for the year ahead. In 2026, we will transition from expanding reach to deepening impact—moving beyond flagship projects to making WELL a standard benchmark for healthy and sustainable design across key markets. We aim to boost adoption in fast-growing and underserved regions, integrate WELL into design workflows, and establish it as a practical framework for ESG, net-zero, and people-first outcomes across diverse developments.”

Dr. Whitney Austin Gray, Senior Vice President, Research
“Our ‘Investing in Health Pays Back’ initiative will continue to reshape how the industry views wellness-focused real estate. By demonstrating tangible financial, social, and personal returns from health-optimized environments, the conversation will shift from whether health investments pay off to how much value they generate. This movement will position buildings as active contributors to longevity and performance, not just physical assets.”

Jason Hartke, Head of Advocacy and Secretariat of the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air
“This year, the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air will undertake a landmark project: developing a Global Framework for Action. This comprehensive roadmap will address market transformation across awareness, innovation, policy, education, standards, and research. It will also serve as a foundation for customized national strategies, translating global alignment into actionable country-level guidance to accelerate progress.”

Kimberly Lewis Inkumsah, Executive Vice President, Equity and Engagement
“As Audre Lorde reminded us, struggles are interconnected because our lives are interconnected. In our field, well-being cannot exist without equity. Communities facing the greatest challenges often hold the most powerful insights for change. This year calls for investing in inclusive design—not as philanthropy, but as a strategic advantage and driver of systemic transformation.”

Jack Noonan, Senior Vice President, Head of Asia Pacific
“We’re seeing a shift in how high-performing buildings are defined. Greater emphasis on health resilience presents a major opportunity for organizations in Asia Pacific to prioritize verified indoor air quality. This focus must go beyond compliance and become a competitive differentiator, much like energy performance did in the past decade. Organizations will increasingly use air quality data, occupant feedback, and health metrics through certifications like WELL to demonstrate measurable commitments to well-being, driving market and regulatory change across the region.”

Karen Quintana, Senior Vice President, Digital Product
“By 2026, organizations will feel empowered to expand health initiatives from pilot projects to portfolio-wide strategies. Advances in AI and data processing are enabling teams to move faster and handle complex datasets. WELL serves as a unifying framework that consolidates insights into a single scorecard, simplifying tracking and performance measurement. Through partnerships with technology and sensor providers, we’re working to integrate WELL seamlessly into everyday operations.”

IWBI Social Sustainability and Sustainable Finance Team
Kelly Worden, Vice President, Social Sustainability
“The real estate sector is undergoing a major transformation in how value is defined and maintained. Capital access increasingly depends on building performance, while tenant expectations directly influence net operating income. Evidence is mounting that social factors—such as tenant satisfaction and community engagement—are as impactful as environmental metrics. This shift calls for integrated sustainability strategies that measure both environmental and social performance with equal rigor.”

Minjia Yang, Vice President and Head of Sustainable Finance
“The fastest progress in sustainability is occurring where regulation and capital meet. As policies and finance frameworks increasingly recognize health, well-being, and social sustainability—often referencing the WELL Standard—market expectations are evolving rapidly. Incorporating WELL and people-centered metrics is strengthening sustainable finance and creating a powerful feedback loop between policy, investment, and real-world practice.”

At its WELL Flagship Summit in London, the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) announced major progress for the WELL Building Standard (WELL) throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Across this region, WELL adoption has expanded to more than 105 million square meters (1.14 billion square feet) across over 7,500 locations that are either pursuing or have achieved WELL milestones. Representing nearly 20% of WELL’s global footprint, this growth highlights the region’s deepening commitment to health-centered design and people-first environments.

WELL-certified and pursuing projects now span 76 EMEA countries, reflecting widespread recognition of WELL as the leading benchmark for healthy buildings, organizations, and communities. The United Kingdom leads in adoption, with more than 1,100 projects encompassing over 12 million square meters (130 million square feet). Poland stands out as a Central and Eastern European leader in WELL innovation, while France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Germany continue to drive progress across Western Europe. In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has shown strong uptake, particularly through the WELL Health-Safety Rating, measured both in area and number of sites.

“The impressive rise of WELL across the EMEA region shows a clear global desire for spaces that actively promote health and well-being,” said Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO of IWBI.

“More organizations are recognizing that healthy environments benefit not just people, but also business performance and community resilience. This momentum reinforces a shared vision of a healthier built world.”

Within EMEA, the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Design (AECD) and Real Estate sectors continue to hold the largest share of WELL projects, reflecting a growing integration of health and wellness principles from the design phase onward. Other key sectors include Financial Services and Insurance, Energy and Utilities, and Professional and Business Services.
Since its debut in 2014, WELL has provided an evidence-based framework for organizations worldwide to embed health-promoting strategies within their buildings and operations.

The broader WELL ecosystem—comprising WELL Certification, the WELL Health-Safety Rating, the WELL Performance Rating, the WELL Equity Rating, the WELL Coworking Rating, the WELL Community Standard, and the WELL for Residential pilot—continues to drive market transformation toward environments that enhance both physical and mental well-being. Additionally, IWBI’s WELL at scale program, which includes participation from 36 EMEA-based organizations, extends these benefits across entire real estate portfolios, supporting health, performance, and transparent reporting.

This regional expansion contributes significantly to WELL’s global impact—supporting the health and well-being of an estimated 30 million people and covering more than $2 trillion USD in managed assets. It demonstrates that prioritizing health yields tangible benefits: improved well-being, stronger business results, and higher-performing people.

The London summit emphasized the business case for healthy buildings, featuring a dedicated session on the second edition of IWBI’s Investing in Health Pays Back report. This new edition more than doubles the amount of research, citations, and case studies—drawing from academic literature, industry data, and European real-world examples.

“From Scandinavia to South Africa, the message is consistent: investing in health delivers measurable returns,” said Ann Marie Aguilar, Senior Vice President for EMEA at IWBI. “We’re excited to share the latest edition of our report with the regional market, backed by robust research connecting healthy building practices to productivity and performance gains.”

Click here to know more about WELL projects across the EMEA region.