Thirty years of public health research have demonstrated that improved indoor environmental quality is associated with better health outcomes, and recent research has demonstrated an impact of the indoor environment on cognitive function. The Healthy Buildings Team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found:
- 26.4% higher cognitive test scores in high-performing, green certified buildings.
- 6.4% higher Sleep Quality scores in high-performing, green certified buildings.
- 30% fewer symptoms in high-performing, green certified buildings.
- Thermal comfort and sleep quality associated with higher cognitive scores.
- “Buildingomics”: the totality of factors in buildings that influence health.
Read the study online
Paper:
“The impact of working in a green certified building on cognitive function and health.” Piers MacNaughton, Usha Satish, Jose Guillermo Cedeno Laurent, Skye Flanigan, Jose Vallarino, Brent Coull, John D. Spengler, Joseph G.Allen. Building and Environment, Volume 114, March 2017, Pages 178-186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.11.041.
