Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices

Our new report, Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices: The Next Chapter for Green Building, presents overwhelming evidence that office design significantly impacts the health, wellbeing and productivity of staff.

The report finds that a range of factors – from air quality and lighting, to views of nature and interior layout – can affect the health, satisfaction and job performance of office workers.

Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices – sponsored by JLL, Lend Lease and Skanska – also presents a simple toolkit that businesses can use to measure the health, wellbeing and productivity of their buildings and inform financial decision-making.

The full report, as well as a short version presenting key findings, and an executive summary, can be downloaded through the links at the right. You can also download the Healthy Offices at for iPad orAndroid.

Findings from the report will be presented at a number of events over the coming months – visit our events page to find one near you. Are you holding your own event or conference and would like an expert speaker to present about this report? Visit our experts page to book one.

Findings of the report include:

Indoor air quality: A comprehensive body of research suggests that better indoor air quality (low concentrations of CO₂ and pollutants and high ventilation rates) can lead to productivity improvements of 8-11%.

Thermal comfort: Research demonstrates that thermal comfort has a significant impact on workplace satisfaction and modest degrees of personal control over thermal comfort can return single digit improvements in productivity.

Lighting and views of nature: Several studies have estimated productivity gains as a result of proximity to windows, with experts now thinking that views from windows are probably the more significant factor, particularly where the view offers a connection to nature.

Noise and acoustics: Research suggests that being productive in the modern knowledge-based office is practically impossible when noise provides an unwanted distraction. This can be a major cause of dissatisfaction amongst occupants.

Interior layout: The way the interior of an office is configured (including workstation density and configuration of work space, breakout space and social space) has been found to have an impact on concentration, collaboration, confidentiality and creativity.

Active design and exercise: Health can be improved through exercise, and so active design within a building, and access to services and amenities such as gyms, bicycle storage and green space can help to encourage healthier lifestyles of building occupants.

Toolkit to measure health, wellbeing and productivity:

Financial metrics: Absenteeism, staff turnover, revenue breakdown (by department or per building), medical costs and complaints, and physical complaints.

Perceptual metrics: Studies which test a range of self-reported attitudes into health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace can contain a wealth of information for improving office performance.

Physical metrics: Direct measures of the physical office environment, such as temperature, are key to measuring the effect on the health, wellbeing and productivity of workers. Exciting developments in this area such as portable and wearable technology are likely to substantially expand our understanding.

The Next Phase

Our next challenge is action and implementation – to ensure that the ideas put forward in the Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Officesreport have an impact ‘on the ground’.

To help with this, WorldGBC is launching a follow-up campaign, to build on the foundation provided by the report and to ensure that these principles can be taken forward beyond just the office sector.

from: http://www.worldgbc.org/