Office buildings are key to workers' health, wellbeing and productivity

The relationship between people and the building in which they are working is vital. The majority of businesses are missing a trick in ignoring the enormous opportunity this relationship presents.

Salaries and benefits typically account for 90% of an organisation’s operating costs, far greater than energy (1%) and even rent (9%). The productivity of staff, or anything that affects their ability to be productive, should be a major concern for any employer, and therefore the building in which they operate, should be a key interest.

For architects and designers, the idea that buildings influence the health, wellbeing and productivity of their occupants is not new. But this type of thinking is still not influencing most design, financing and leasing decisions – beyond perhaps the odd high profile Silicon Valley tech company.

Six months ago, the World Green Building Council convened 60 experts from 40 businesses and academic institutions, across 20 countries, to try to bring this issue into the mainstream.

Concentrating on the office sector, we have compiled evidence that demonstrates the physical work environment has an impact on the health and productivity of the office worker. Of course, the terms health, wellbeing and productivity encompass a whole range of related and complex issues. Health encapsulates physical and mental health, wellbeing hints at broader feelings or perceptions of satisfaction and happiness, and productivity refers more explicitly to business-oriented outputs.

Good indoor air quality, thermal comfort, high quality views, daylight, good acoustics and indeed location and amenities – all play a crucial role in creating a healthy, productive workplace.

For example, on air quality, a meta-analysis in 2006 of 24 studies found that poor air quality lowered performance by up to 10% on measures such as typing speed and units output. Short term sick leave has also been found to be 35% lower in offices ventilated with greater supply rates of outdoor air.

On thermal comfort, research in 2006 indicated a 10% reduction in performance at both 30C and 15C, compared with a baseline between 21C and 23C.

And in terms of lighting, one 2011 study, which investigated the relationship between view quality, daylighting and sick leave of employees in administration offices of Northwest University, Washington, found those in offices with better daylight and views took 6.5% fewer sick days.

Neuroscientists have also suggested that workers with offices that have windows receive 173% more white light (daylight) exposure during work hours and sleep an average of 46 minutes more per night.

There are many examples of a “virtuous circle” of good design that benefits both people and planet. Give people more personal control over temperature, for example, and it typically makes them happier, while also saving energy. Maximise daylight and access to windows, and it reduces the need for electric lighting, at the same time improving productivity and even workers’ sleeping patterns.

This is only half of the story. No matter how convincing the evidence, it will only make a difference when organisations can make their own business case. We have created a toolkit for organisations to fit to their own circumstances. It’s based on three broad types of data: financial, perceptual and physical.

Much financial data that businesses are already collecting - absence rates, medical complaints and costs, staff turnover and even revenue - could be collected more systematically, and assessed in relation to place. Does this data vary between, or even within, offices? This would be a low-cost and easy way for organisations to begin to analyse quite familiar statistics, but through a new lens.

These objective “outcome” metrics should then be accompanied by information about underlying attitudes that can be harder to quantify but important to understand. An effective perception study that tests a range of self-reported attitudes about health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace can create a more rounded picture.

Finally, and crucially, comes information about the building itself, and how it is performing. Some of these are very direct measures (lighting, temperature, air quality) and others will be evaluations or assessments (quality of views, local amenities). Some can be done in house, some require more expert support – although this is changing as technology puts power in the hands of occupiers themselves.

Capturing this data is less difficult than it seems but requires a different way of thinking. Facilities managers (FMs), for example, are likely to have a wealth of data about the building itself; HR departments are already in possession of data about worker attitudes as well as performance; and the finance director will be well aware of revenue and related financial metrics.

Many organisations are sitting on a treasure trove of information that, with a little sifting, could yield important immediate improvement strategies for their two biggest assets – their people and places, and the relationship between the two.

This is an opportunity for organisations to think differently and use their physical premises for competitive gain, whether that’s an investor trying to command a higher price for a high-performing building or an occupier looking to take on a space needed to drive business success.

Sustainability professionals have a key role to play in helping FMs, HR departments and finance directors to start working together to create a business strategy that maximises the value of the workplace for employee health, boosting organisational performance whilst minimising impact on the planet.

With “wellbeing” becoming firmly established in CSR lexicon - perhaps more tangible and people-centred than the often woolly “sustainability” - how long before we see a new addition to the c-suite? How long before we see the first chief wellbeing officer?

John Alker is the director of policy and communications at the UK Green Building Council

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