Workers in Certified Green Buildings Record Higher Cognitive Functions

For those of us interested in the sustainability of our built spaces, a recent report provides a new and unexpected argument for green buildings.

Employees who work in certified green buildings have higher cognitive functions scores, fewer sick building symptoms and higher sleep quality scores than those working in non-certified buildings, says the report from Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and SUNY Upstate Medical University.

The researchers studied 109 workers at 10 buildings in five cities across the US, and found that they had:

• 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 tasks at hand

• 31% higher strategy scores

We’ve always thought green building was smart….we just didn’t realise it also made you smarter.

Click here for the full report. http://www.chgeharvard.org/resource/impact-green-buildings-cognitive-function