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

Healthy sleep policy

High-quality sleep is essential to good health. Adequate sleep improves mental health, is necessary for maintaining sustained mental and physical performance throughout the day, and can help to prevent unhealthy weight gain.

This feature sets reasonable work hour limits that reinforce a healthy sleep and wake rhythm, puts a time limit on engagement with work tasks, provides appropriate places for recovery and renewal, and formalizes explicit food and drink provisioning to bolster good sleep patterns. Adopting this feature demonstrates the organization values quality of sleep and understands its impact on overall worker productivity and well-being.

Part 1: Ceiling Height

Ceiling height that is proportional to room dimension provides an expansive, comfortable and open feel to interior space. Floor to ceiling heights for regularly occupied spaces meet the following requirements:

a.96 Rooms of width 9 m [30 ft] or less have ceiling height of at least 2.75 m [9 ft].
b. Rooms of width greater than 9 m [30 ft] have ceiling height of at least 2.75 m [9 ft] plus at least 0.15 m [0.5 ft] for every 3 m [10 ft] over 9 m [30 ft].
Part 2: Delayed Start

The following requirement is met for middle and high schools:

a.142 The school day starts no earlier than 8:30 am.
Cardiovascular
Muscular
Immune
Endocrine

Applicability Matrix

Core & Shell Tenant Improvement New Construction
Part 1: Ceiling Height - O O
Part 2: Delayed Start - - -
Commercial Kitchen Schools Multifamily Residential Restaurant Retail
Part 1: Ceiling Height O O O O O
Part 2: Delayed Start - O - - -

Verification Methods Matrix

Letters of Assurance Annotated Documents On-Site Checks
PART 1 (Design)
Ceiling Height
Architectural Drawing Spot Check
PART 2 (Protocol)
Delayed Start
Architect Architectural Drawing
142

American Academy of Pediatrics. School Start Times for Adolescents. Pediatrics. 2014.

90.2.a

The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that school start times earlier than 8:30 am contribute to insufficient sleep and circadian disruption, and urges middle schools and high schools to consider school start times that allow for optimal sleep levels.