One building, two rating systems, a fixed budget: hit the target, then see how much of your badge was real improvement and how much was clever measurement.
Nothing else in the session uses a tab: getting started, the debrief on what the rating cost, bringing it back to Assignment 1, and the Assignment 1 feedback slot are all discussion. Both acts run on the same building, so pick your profile in Act 1 and carry it through.
A NABERS IE star rates measured performance: five dimensions, weighted and combined into one star.
A Whole Building rating weights thermal comfort and indoor air quality at 30% each, lighting and acoustics at 15% each, and office layout at 10%, so the thermal and air-quality scores move the star most. You can raise a dimension two ways: a real upgrade that lifts what occupants actually experience, or a measurement tactic that changes when, where, or how you sample so only the reading moves. A rating expires 12 months after its rating period, and the assessor keeps records so that an auditor can repeat it. A rating built on tactics collapses when it is re-rated with clean, compliant sampling, while one built on real work survives.
Five dimensions, each rated 1 to 6 stars from its measured performance; the overall star is their weighted average (Whole Building weights: thermal 30%, IAQ 30%, lighting 15%, acoustics 15%, layout 10%). Spend your budget on real upgrades (they lift what occupants experience and what the sensors read) or on cheaper measurement tactics (they lift only what the sensors read). Reach the target star without going over budget.
| Dimension | Real upgrade (raises true & measured; each +2 costs 1 budget point) | Measurement tactic (raises measured only) |
|---|
Each dimension carries a true score (0 to 100, what occupants experience) and a measured score (what the rating sees). A real upgrade adds to both. A measurement tactic adds only to the measured score, because it changes when, where, or how you sample, not the building.
The weights are the Whole Building column of the NABERS IE Rules (Table 3.1); Base Building and Tenancy ratings weight the dimensions differently. Behind each dimension the real tool combines on-site measurements (thermal comfort scored against ASHRAE 55, CO2 relative to outdoors, A-weighted sound level, horizontal illuminance) with the occupant satisfaction survey, which is half of every dimension and all of office layout. Each result is scored as a market position against other rated buildings. The 0 to 100 scale and the star formula here are a teaching simplification, not the NABERS algorithm.
WELL certifies by counting credits rather than by measuring performance, so the badge depends on which credits you buy.
WELL awards points for optional features and certifies once you pass a points threshold (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum). A cheap policy credit such as a dress code, a stress-management plan or an air monitor can be worth the same points as an expensive performance credit like more outdoor air or reverberation control. So two routes reach the same band at very different cost and very different real benefit, and the certificate can run well ahead of what occupants feel. (Same building as Act 1.)
Same building, a different logic. WELL v2 awards points for optional features across its concepts; hit a points threshold and you certify. Preconditions (particulate limits, a ventilation design, no indoor smoking, acoustic zoning, a mental-health commitment) are assumed met. Now buy optional credits with your effort budget to reach the target band. Watch which credits actually change the indoor environment and which just need a policy or a form.
The real WELL v2 standard certifies at 40 (Bronze), 50 (Silver), 60 (Gold), and 80 (Platinum) points out of about 100. This round models a representative slice of the health-relevant concepts (Air, Light, Thermal, Sound, Mind) worth points, so the band lines are scaled to that slice by the same 40/50/60/80 percent proportions.
Point values follow the public WELL v2 scorecard (Q3 to Q4 2024). Where a row is one option within a larger feature (the flexible dress code is one part of T04 Individual Thermal Control), it carries that option's points, not the whole feature's. The effort costs and the occupant-benefit rating (three dots = high, two = partial, one = policy or awareness only) are teaching estimates, set to expose the gap between what scores points and what improves the space.