Green-Certified Buildings Can Support Better Health

The way to accelerate the building of energy efficient, environmentally sustainable, green buildings is to make the argument about people, according to an article on Better Places for People website. While there is much data about how green buildings lower energy use and promote environmental sustainability, there is much less about how green buildings improve health, personal performance and productivity — that is until now.

One recent study demonstrated in a laboratory setting that cognitive function test scores doubled for people who work in an optimized green building setting. Another study reinforced earlier findings about the positive results of greening facilities:
• 44 percent of people had higher applied activity level scores, which reflect ability to gear decision-making toward overall goals
• 38 percent of people had higher focused activity level scores, which reflect capacity to pay attention to tasks at hand

This type of evidence can further define the need to build sustainably. With more data about the health and productivity benefits of green buildings, better decisions can be made about the infrastructure for our growing cities.

For more survey results, read the full article here.