Attention, Employers: Green Design Tied to Fewer Sick Days

Comparing Financial Outcomes and Worker Happiness

“Health, Wellbeing & Productivity in Offices” identifies seven top metrics that building owners widely use but don’t often put in the context of their buildings’ performance. These include absenteeism, staff turnover, revenue breakdown, medical costs, medical complaints, and physical complaints. By conducting an occupant perception study and assessing physical conditions in the office—like air quality, access to views, and acoustical comfort—owners can begin to understand the relationships between the space, the employees, and their output, according to the report.

The report also compiles evidence to support the idea that human benefits are derived from green design, which could help architects and sustainability consultants make the business case for the design features that they know will bring well-being benefits. The following are drawn from various studies to demonstrate the impact that design features have on staff costs:

• Air-quality improvements are estimated to increase productivity 8%–11%.
• An employee’s performance is likely impacted if air temperatures differ significantly from a baseline between 70°F and 73°F; performance can drop as much as 10% at a high of 86°F or a low of 59°F.  
• A 66% drop in performance for a ‘memory for prose’ task was observed in one study when participants were exposed to different types of background noise, emphasizing the importance of acoustical comfort.