Friday, October 07, 2016

Buildingomics: Green offices make you healthier


Though not specifically aimed at shedworkers, recent findings will come as no surprise to those who know the benefits of working in garden offices (especially eco-friendly ones). In general, we know that green buildings help the environment and now a new report indicates that they also contribute to the health and cognitive function of the people within them.

The study from Harvard University and SUNY Upstate Medical University shows that compared to people working in buildings without a green certification, occupants of green-certified ones had:

* A 26.4% higher cognitive function score, with:
* 73% higher crisis response scores
* 44% higher applied activity level scores, which reflect ability to gear decision-making toward overall goals
* 38% higher focused activity level scores, which reflect capacity to pay attention to situations at hand
* 31% higher strategy scores
* 30% fewer sick building symptoms
* A 6.4% higher sleep quality score

This study suggests that there may be an even greater benefit to pursuing green building certification than originally thought. The study also introduces the term “Buildingomics” to capture the science behind the findings, i.e.  how the make-up of a building affects its occupants. --------------------------------------------------------
Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

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