Green building strategies can boost worker performance.
Lower VOC concentrations and high outdoor air ventilation rates can help improve the cognitive function of office workers, according to a new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives.
The researchers measured the performance of 24 participants working for six full days in an environmentally controlled office. The environment was tuned to create different IEQ conditions representative of conventional buildings with higher VOC concentrations and green buildings with low VOC concentrations at the ASHRAE standard ventilation rate, as well as green buildings with a high outdoor air ventilation rate (labeled Green+).
Cognitive scores for workers were 61% higher on the day when a green building was simulated, and 101% higher on the two Green+ days than on the conventional building day. Noting that the study was designed to recreate commonly encountered conditions, the authors say that tactics that improve IEQ can improve occupant quality of life as well as providing green benefits.
