Are Green Buildings Good For Business?

Studies Show Link with Worker Well Being and Productivity

A growing body of evidence shows an increasingly compelling connection between eco-friendly workspaces and worker well-being. What's more, the evidence exhibits rewards for employers through enhanced employee recruiting, retention and productivity, and decreased absenteeism.

A study at the new Herman Miller SQA Building in Holland, MI revealed increases in both the psychological and social well being among the facility's 700 workers. Herman Miller SQA (Simple, Quick, Affordable), a subsidiary of Herman Miller, Inc., remanufactures Herman Miller office furniture.

The Big Three: Daylight, Indoor Air Quality, and Energy Efficiency

The SQA operation was housed formerly in a smaller industrial building with ribbon windows lining the manufacturing and office areas. In contrast, the new building includes abundant daylighting, good indoor air quality and good energy efficiency, principal hallmarks of green architecture.

In Environmental Design and Construction (July/August 2000), environmental psychologist Judith Heerwagen, Ph.D, identified additional green design features and their links to three dimensions of well being: physical; neuro-cognitive; and psycho-social. Her conclusions derive from research in Europe and the U.S., including the Herman Miller study.

In terms of "looking forward to work," being "in good spirits at work," and being "excited about work," Herman Miller SQA employees overall were happier in the new building. In the old building, 45% of workers said they looked forward to working in the building, compared to 70% of workers in the new one.

More than 20% of daytime workers expressed an increased sense of being in good spirits while at work. And over 30% registered increased ratings in their sense of belonging and overall work spirit.

Architecture 101

Design Architect Kurt Zimmerman of the Zimmerman Design Group in Milwaukee agrees that daylighting and air quality are fundamental elements of green design. "It's rudimentary Architecture 101, back to the basics. A lot of it comes from site planning that's essentially free," he said.  Taking full advantage of southern exposure, window design, and use of lighter paved surfaces on sidewalks and parking lots are basic examples of green design, he said. Daylight, both direct and reflected, not only helps reduce a building's energy loads, it contributes to employees' connection to the natural environment.

Environmental Control Systems Augment Green Design

When West Bend Mutual Insurance built its new headquarters office in West Bend, Wisconsin, a key design goal was to create a timeless building based on work environment quality and employee morale/productivity, including energy-efficient technology.

Complementing the building's green architecture, Johnson Controls Personal Environments® systems were installed. The systems give employees desktop control of their individual workstation environments, including temperature, air flow, lighting and background noise masking.

A study of the project showed a 16% gain in employee productivity, 2.8% directly attributed to the personal control systems, as determined by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Architectural Research. 

Employee complaints of air temperatures being too hot or too cold dropped from 40 per day in the former building (conservatively estimated at $25 per call plus $300 in main-tenance) to only two per week. In addition, utility costs dropped seven cents per square foot per month in the new 150,000 square foot building. 

Beyer Customers Also See the Light

Acting on instinct rather than statistical evaluations, Frank Krejci, owner of The Custom Shoppe in Watertown, made sure his new facility had plenty of light and pleasing views for the employees. The building, which Beyer completed in 1999, includes large windows that bathe the manufacturing and office areas in natural light.

"I didn't know the fancy terminology. I just knew what was good for the employees," Krejci said. "We get very positive feedback from employees and visitors just because it's a pleasant working environment."

Krejci said the design aligned the company's strategies for producing high quality custom wood furniture. "We have a high quality pro-duct made by high quality employees in a high quality facility," he said.

That's a productive philosophy for any business to follow, regardless of what the company produces.