IWBI Releases Alignment Tool Mapping WELL v2 to ESRS, Empowering Global Organizations’ Sustainability Reporting

New tool demonstrates how more than 30 WELL features may help support up to 50 percent of topical areas required for disclosure, predominantly within the Social pillar, under the newly-enacted European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
May 28, 2024 12:05 PM ET

NEW YORK, May 28, 2024 /3BL/ - The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the global authority for transforming health in buildings, organizations and communities, announced today the launch of its WELL v2 and ESRS alignment tool, a comprehensive resource designed to demonstrate how IWBI’s WELL Building Standard (WELL) aligns with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), helping organizations show how achieving WELL strategies meets the requirements of ESRS and bolster their sustainability reporting.

The new tool suggests how organizations can leverage implemented WELL strategies to support their sustainability reporting and disclosure requirements under the ESRS framework. Specifically, the alignment tool identifies over 30 WELL features that can contribute to reporting on 50% of the ESRS’s requirements (36 of 70 ESRS-coded disclosure items) across the E, S and G pillars with a predominant focus on the Social part. Beginning in 2025, companies covered by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will report under the ESRS framework for the 2024 financial year and onward.

“As organizations across the globe seek to meet the reporting requirements of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, we are pleased to provide this alignment tool which shows WELL may contribute towards up to 50% of the ESRS reporting requirements,” said Rachel Hodgdon, IWBI President and CEO. “When it comes to a company’s own workforce— the first social pillar — WELL can contribute to up to 14 of the 17 disclosure items. We look forward to partnering with our customers as they leverage WELL to implement, validate and report on their strategies to advance social sustainability.”

To access the WELL v2 - ESRS alignment tool and learn more about its benefits, please visit the resource page.

About ESRS

Adopted in July 2023 by the European Commission, ESRS are a set of detailed reporting requirements for companies that apply to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The framework specifies the information that a company shall disclose about its material impacts, risks and opportunities in relation to environmental, social and governance matters. With an embedded double materiality approach, information disclosed under ESRS allows users of sustainability reporting to understand the reporting organizations’ material impacts on people and environment as well as the material financial impact of their sustainability matters.

About WELL

WELL v2 is the latest iteration of the WELL Building Standard, the world’s premier building rating system that provides actionable strategies for health and well-being at the building, organizational and community levels. In addition to the WELL v2 - ESRS alignment tool, IWBI has also created WELL v2 alignment tools with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, GRESB, LEED, IRIS, GRI, S&P CSA.

Today, more than 74,000 commercial and residential locations in 138 countries are using WELL, representing more than 5 billion square feet of space. In addition, more than 150 companies in the Fortune 500 are using WELL to demonstrate health leadership and support their ESG and corporate reporting. Increasingly, WELL is being factored in sustainability finance, included in at least 12 financial instruments to date. Dozens of organizations across various industries around the world have incorporated WELL into one or more of their sustainable finance frameworks and reporting mechanisms.

About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the global authority for transforming health and well-being in buildings, organizations and communities. In pursuit of its public-health mission, IWBI mobilizes its community through the development and administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL), WELL for residential, WELL Community Standard, its WELL ratings and management of the WELL AP credential. IWBI also translates research into practice, develops educational resources and advocates for policies that promote people-first for everyone, everywhere. IWBI is a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate citizenship initiative, and helps companies advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the use of WELL. More information on WELL can be found here.

International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL EP, WELL Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Equity Rated, WELL Equity, WELL Residence, Works with WELL, 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.

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