When builders hear "wellness," many still think first of gyms, yoga rooms, and other amenities.

Liz Miles, vice president of residential at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), says the real opportunity is in the design decisions homeowners experience every day: ventilation, daylight, acoustics, moisture management, healthier materials.

As IWBI's WELL for Residential certification moves from pilot toward a full standard later this year, Miles explains where your thinking on healthy homes should actually start. This is an edited and condensed conversation we had with Miles from our Women at WIRC podcast. Listen to the full episode.

How can the built environment actually shape our health and wellbeing?

Liz Miles: There's so many different ways. When people think about wellness, they often think about a gym or eating healthy. Those things have their place, but they're lifestyle-related choices. There's also so much around us that's passively impacting our health all the time.

We spend 90% of our time indoors. It's the air we breathe, the water we drink, the lighting we're exposed to, the noise around us. All of these things are constantly affecting our health and wellbeing. That's really what we look at in WELL, along with policies and operations, but especially the design of the built environment.

When did it become clear that you needed a different approach for residential than your commercial standard? 

Miles: Residences are not just mini offices. They're very different in terms of who they're serving. It's not just about working. It's raising children, having pets, sleeping, eating meals with family, and in many cases working from home. Homes support so many different aspects of daily life.

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The process is different, too. Builders are often also the architects, and homeowners are much more directly involved. We were also seeing growing demand to address health and wellbeing inside individual dwelling units, not just common areas, along with increasing interest from the single-family market.

That led us to bring together an advisory group of developers, designers, and other stakeholders to create a program specifically for residential environments.

How should a builder or architect think about wellness? What areas should they think about more holistically than in the past?

Miles: The best time to think about wellness is as early as possible because that's when you can have the greatest impact. You're making decisions about HVAC systems, plumbing, moisture management, window design, daylight, glare control, acoustics, appliance selection, storage, and material choices.

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Some examples are very practical. Don't put the laundry room next to the bedroom. Choose quieter dishwashers and appliances. Make sure the range hood exhausts outdoors. Think about healthy materials and designing windows for both daylight and glare control.

A lot of people think it's a "healthy for the wealthy" thing, but it's really not true. There are many ways to achieve the same health outcome. You can do an air-quality test or install a high-end ventilation system, but both are working toward better indoor air quality.

If replacing an HVAC system isn't practical, plug-in filtration may be another option. It's about being open-minded and looking at different solutions that achieve the same outcome.

Where should residential professionals focus first?

Miles: Start with your population. Who are you serving?

We tend to get so focused on the building, and that's important because it's the vehicle we're using to improve health, but ultimately we're designing for people.

For example, if you're building affordable housing where asthma and allergies are common, you'll want to focus on air filtration, air-quality monitoring, and minimizing combustion. If you're designing housing for people who work overnight shifts, blackout shades and lighting controls become much more important.

It really depends on who you're serving, and that's always where I recommend starting.

What's the risk if builders, architects, and designers don't embrace this approach?

Miles: I think you'll be behind the curve.

One of the things we learned from the green building movement is that we have to pay attention to unintended consequences. I also think younger generations have access to more information and technology than ever before. You don't want the people you're serving to know more than you do. It's important to get ahead of that.

Looking ahead, where do you see wellness in housing over the next 10 years?

Miles: I think wellness will become the baseline, not the differentiator, much like what happened with the green building movement.

People often ask how WELL compares with LEED, or say LEED isn't as important anymore. It's still important. Many of those ideas have simply become part of building practice and building code.

I hope the same thing happens with WELL because that means we've succeeded in transforming the market.

Over the next decade, I think wellness will shift from being a nice-to-have to something homeowners simply expect.