Serving sizes

#25396 - If a project does not sell or provide food and beverages on a daily basis, which Nourishment features are applicable and will contribute to the project's scorecard?

If a project does not sell or provide food and beverages on a daily basis, it is considered in compliance with the Nourishment precondition features 38-40 (and 43-44 when designated as preconditions) and is considered not having achieved optimization features 47 and 49 (and 43-44 when designated as optimizations). To demonstrate compliance, projects should simply add a note to explain their lack of daily food and beverage offerings within the 'Notes' column of the project checklist.

Note that all Nourishment optimizations will still appear on the project scorecard and contribute to the denominator when calculating scoring.

#25395 - The project has food delivered twice a week to the building, and the occupants consume the food throughout the week. As project owners, is this classified as providing food on a daily basis?

Yes, foods and beverages are considered to be provided on a daily basis if they are available to occupants each day. This is irrespective of the frequency of delivery.

#25347 - How would a Core and Shell project meet Part 1 of this feature?

All meals, if present, provided by the owner must meet the requirements. Food and beverage providers leasing space as a tenant of the building are excluded from these requirements. Commercial kitchens are not applicable.

#25348 - How would a Core and Shell project meet Part 2 of this feature?

All dishware provided by the owner must meet the requirements - at a minimum, this must be available to all building staff in order to pursue this Feature. Food and beverage providers leasing space as a tenant of the building are excluded from these requirements. Commercial kitchens are not applicable.

#25174 - If a project complies with Part 2: Dishware but Part 1: Meal Sizes is not applicable since prepared food to order is not provided, can this optimization be achieved?

If a project provides meals that are self-serve (e.g., buffet) but no food made to order, and it complies with the requirements Part 2, it can pursue this feature. If it provides dishware but does not provide meals at all, then it is not eligible.

#25173 - Can a project pursue Feature 47 Part 2 (not Part 1) if food is not provided on a daily basis?

No, Feature 47 Part 1 and Part 2 are only applicable if food is sold or provided on a daily basis on the premises by (or under contract with) the project owner. Also note that Part 2 is applicable only where food is self-serve.

#24499 - For different cultures, meals differ, requiring larger plates to hold multiple accompaniments. Are there allowances by IWBI to address these cultural differences?

No, the 507 cm² plate area should be acceptable for a wide range of cuisine types. Furthermore, occupants are not limited to a single plate/bowl. Hence a lunch tray which provides space for a large plate and smaller bowls is acceptable.

#24501 - For projects not located in the United States, how does IWBI determine what a main course is, keeping in mind the different interpretations by countries other than the United States?

The definition of a main dish, or entrée, will change based on the local conditions of the project. The intent of this feature is to provide employees the choice to select lower calorie meals.

#24487 - In a Core and Shell project with both office tenants and retail/restaurant tenants who will be serving food within their respective spaces, will these tenants need to comply with the Nourishment feature requirements?

No, the Nourishment requirements are only applicable to food provided by the project owner or provided by a vendor who is under contract with the project owner, which for a Core and Shell project the project owner is the building developer. Tenants within the building do not need to meet these requirements.

If the tenant decided to pursue the New and Existing Interiors or the Retail Pilot certification, then the Nourishment feature requirements would be applicable.

#24488 - My project is not located in the United States. How does the WELL Building Standard address the nourishment category for countries that not include the United States with different cultural meal practices?

IWBI recognizes the various cultural differences in meal practices and therefore recommends the project to submit an Alternative Adherence Path (AAP) to confirm the project meets the feature intent for the Nourishment concept. In addition, please review the already accepted AAP's for each nourishment feature.

#24489 - Please further describe the types of food programs that would be considered "sold or provided on a daily basis on the premises by (or under contract with) the project owner."

This includes all foods and beverages supplied by the project owner, or by a vendor under contract with the owner, including items sold or provided in the cafeteria, in vending machines, at a coffee bar and items available to occupants in the kitchen/pantry area.

#24490 - In my project, the kitchen where food is prepared is located in an existing building outside of my project boundary, however the eating area where food is served is located within the project area. Are the WELL Nourishment concept requirements applicable for the project?

Yes, if the food served in the eating area is provided daily under the direction of the owner, all of the Nourishment preconditions need to be met by the project regardless of where the food is prepared.

If no food is sold or served within the eating area or break area, most of the Nourishment precondition features would be considered out of scope. However, features 41 and 45 may still be applicable to the project.

This is a legacy version of the WELL Building Standard. Please check the latest version here.

Serving sizes