May 1, 2017 7:00:00 AM EDT  |  Awards  |  Culture  |  Facilities Support Services  |  News  |  WELL Building Standard

In Search of WELLness: Markon WELL Assessor Visit Completed

WELL assessor visit–check!

2017-WELL Assessor Visit CompletedMarkon is one step closer to achieving WELL Certification for our headquarters expansion. If you’re unfamiliar with WELL, it’s a relatively new certification that maximizes a work space by focusing on how a human being interacts in the built environment.

We registered the project in February 2016, at the very early days of the design phase. It took until the next February to complete all the required documentation. Last month, we were very happy to hear that our documentation passed review and that we were on to the next step. 

In April, we conducted a few internal audits to ensure that all of the spot checks would pass. For the most part, these internal audits produced only a few action items to ensure that the space was ready for the assessors.

We were assigned two assessors and the process took a full day. The day before the assessment took place, we received two large coolers and one box with the supplies that the assessors would use.

The assessors arrived on-site with a very large suitcase of equipment and supplies. The tests included multiple outdoor air samples, indoor air samples, drinking water and hand washing water samples, light measurements, spot checks, collecting formaldehyde, and sound measurements. It was an intense day!

Thank you to Sonali Bhasin, our assessor from the project assignment, and Katie Link, who was our assessor for the day.

We look forward to sharing the next steps and results as soon as they are available. In the meantime, if you are interested in hearing more about WELL Certification, the process, the benefits, or the business case, please contact Ray Carney, WELL AP.

Be WELL!

About the Author

Ray Carney

Ray Carney

Ray Carney, WELL AP is a Vice President at Markon Solutions and a champion for wellness in the workplace. Ray’s areas of expertise include workplace strategy and modification, design thinking, leadership, sustainable design, data centers, and creating secure environments. His experience includes providing cradle-to-grave project management support for the successful design and build of secure facilities. He also spearheaded the tenant fit-out of Markon's headquarters expansion to ensure that it achieved WELL certification. This was the first WELL certified project in the Commonwealth and was recognized by the City of Falls Church for its achievement. Since joining Markon in 2007, Ray has managed numerous internal program strategies, capture efforts, and client engagements. He also co-developed Markon's in-house Leadership Development Program. Prior to joining Markon, Ray consulted for prestigious consulting firms in the DC metropolitan area and Ohio. Ray's passion for wellness in the workplace has led him to speak at numerous engagements around the country including the National Facilities Management and Technology (NFMT) Conference and Expo. He also published an article on WELL Building Standards in FaciltiesNet. Ray was named one of Engineering News-Record Midatlantic's 2016 Top 20 Under 40 for contributions to the industry. He received his MBA with a concentration in Leadership and Finance from the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor’s degree in Management with a concentration in Business Technology from John Carroll University. Ray is a WELL Accredited Professional, LEED Green Associate, Six-Sigma certified Yellow Belt, certified SCRUMMaster, Sun Certified Java Programmer, and holds the Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential as well as both ITIL v3 Foundations and Quality Management certifications.