Green offices boost thinking

by Terry Robson November 5, 2015

There is no action that does not have implications elsewhere, and those actions are often unpredicted. Take for instance the move to make office buildings more energy efficient. This is a laudable goal but in the process what has happened is that the buildings have been made more airtight and that has implications for the internal environment of the building and of course for the people working in the building. In response there is a move towards energy efficient buildings that incorporate sustainable design and “green“ principles to enhance the indoor environment. Now, in a new study researchers wanted to see how those “green” office environments versus the non-green environments might impact the thinking or cognitive abilities of office workers.

The results showed that working in the green+ environment produced results that were, on average, twice as good as working in a conventional environment.

The researchers wanted to look specifically at the impact of ventilation, chemicals, and carbon dioxide on thinking capabilities of people working in office environments. To study this they recruited architects, designers, programmers, engineers, creative marketing professionals, and managers to work in a controlled office environment.

For six days the subjects performed their normal work and the researchers varied the simulated building conditions. In one variation there were “normal” office conditions with relatively high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), in another “green” condition there were low VOC levels, another condition with enhanced ventilation was dubbed “green+”, and a final condition where carbon dioxide (CO2) levels were artificially elevated.

At the end of each day the subjects engaged in tests to measure their cognitive function.

The results showed that working in the green+ environment produced results that were, on average, twice as good as working in a conventional environment. Scores for those working in green environments were an average 61 per cent higher. Specifically they found; in terms of crisis response green conditions scored 97 per cent higher and green+ scored 131 per cent higher, in terms of strategy green conditions scores 183 per cent higher and green+ scored 288 per cent higher, while in terms of information usage green conditions scored 172 per cent higher and green+ scored 299 per cent higher.

Additionally, they found that for seven of the nine cognitive functions tested average scores decreased as levels of CO2 approached what is normal in non-green office buildings.

It would seem if you are not thinking green, you are not thinking.