Green Building Benefits and Barriers:
Productivity and Health
Studies from various disciplines have shown that indoor environments can have significant physical and psychological impacts on their occupants. In an unhealthy, poorly-designed space, these impacts range from minor health issues or discomfort to rarer but serious toxic-induced illnesses or extreme dissatisfaction with one’s physical surroundings. A well-designed, pleasant space that minimizes use of chemicals, uses natural lighting, and incorporates other green elements can have a positive effect on its occupants’ health and comfort.
What makes a pleasant, productive, and healthy indoor environment?
A number of theories addressing what makes people happiest and most productive have come and gone, and many different types of buildings have arisen from these theories’ application. For instance, before fluorescent lighting was available, many schools relied on daylight out of practicality. In the late 1960s, however, a compact building design with few to no windows was advocated by facility managers and engineers for population accommodation and cost-saving purposes. Educational theorists also believed that eliminating windows would decrease potential distractions to students.1
Today’s studies, however, show that daylighting without glare or thermal discomfort, combined with views to the outside world are beneficial to students and employees alike, and actually increase concentration ability.2
Green building design takes these benefits into account. Daylighting can also be combined with passive solar design, which uses windows and other parts of the building’s envelope3 to control indoor heating and cooling. Other indoor environmental quality benefits of green buildings can include:
- enhanced physical comfort through higher-quality heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems.
- better health (less asthma incidence, fewer sick days) due to environmentally-friendly, non-toxic construction materials and reduction of harmful refrigerants (CFCs and HCFCs).
- higher levels of satisfaction with working environment; reduced turnover.
Implications: Working environment
The higher health and comfort associated with green buildings is likely to have a positive financial impact on a company. In general, studies have shown that the more comfortable and healthy an employee is, the more productive he or she will be. And, as any company executive knows, having more productive employees means greater corporate profitability.
A related benefit is that a healthy environment can help the company reduce its healthcare premium costs and absenteeism due to reduced employee illness. A Seattle City Light study of 31 buildings with documented sustainable technologies and operating efficiencies showed absenteeism reductions of 40%.4
Healthier, more comfortable employees in green buildings may also be more satisfied with their jobs than their counterparts in non-green buildings, which can reduce employee turnover.
Implications: Schools
In the education sector, studies have shown that healthy, comfortable schools that use daylighting appropriately boast students with higher test scores in math and reading. The careful consideration given to environment and atmosphere in schools that meet green building standards means that green schools are more likely to have health, comfort, and other psychological benefits than schools simply built to code. Healthy schools can also decrease student sick-days.
Implications: Homes
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| Affordable green home with solar panels. |
A healthy, comfortable home is an essential part of life. Because of the benefits of green building, it is worthwhile for homebuyers to investigate the possibility of building or buying a green home, and for current homeowners to consider incorporating green elements into their living spaces. Homes with green technologies and appliances are likely to have greater market value than similar buildings without these green features. The appeal of a green home is also relevant for multi-family homes and apartment complexes and there are an increasing number of green affordable and market rate multi-family housing projects on the market.
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2 Ibid.
Also, Windows and
Offices: A Study of Office Worker Performance and the Indoor Environment – CEC
PIER 2003. Prepared by the Heschong-Mahone Group,
Inc., for the CEC. 2003.
4 High Performance Building Delivers Results: Communicating Productivity Benefits of Sustainable Building to Decision Makers in the Seattle Development Industry. By Seattle City Light. 2000.