A new research project has revealed people who work in buildings that have green design in mind have significantly higher cognitive function…
A study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, SUNY Upstate Medical University, and Syracuse University concluded that people who work in green buildings are likely to have higher cognitive functioning scores in areas such crisis response or developing strategy.
Researchers investigated and analysed the experience of people in green and non-green buildings in a double-blind study. The findings revealed the environment people work in on a daily basis could affect cognitive function.
Lead author of the study, Director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment Joseph Allen said: “We have been ignoring the 90 percent. We spend 90 percent of our time indoors and 90 percent of the cost of a building are the occupants, yet indoor environmental quality and its impact on health and productivity are often an afterthought.
“These results suggest that even modest improvements to indoor environmental quality may have a profound impact on the decision-making performance of workers.”
The study examined the impact of ventilation, chemicals, and carbon dioxide on cognitive function. Poor indoor environmental quality can be a side effect of buildings becoming more energy efficient and more airtight.
During the 1980s, building-related illnesses were first reported due to poor ventilation. Since this time there has been an increased push for sustainable design that also takes into account enhanced indoor environmental quality.
Researchers involved in the study tested the decision-making abilities of 24 participants while they worked in a controlled office environment at the Total Indoor Environmental Quality Laboratory, Syracuse. The participants were made up of architects, designers, programmers, engineers, creative marketing professionals, and managers.
The participants were studied during a six day period in November 2014. During this time they were exposed to conditions such as high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These are emitted from common materials in offices.
The study was split into three controlled events: conventional conditions with relatively high concentrations of VOCs, green conditions with enhanced ventilation (called green+), and conditions with artificially elevated levels of CO2.
Cognitive testing was undertaken at the end of each day and revealed the scores for the participants who worked in the green+ environments were on average double those who worked in conventional. Those working in green environments were 61 per cent higher.
The researchers measured nine cognitive function domains and found the greatest improvements were seen in crisis response, which saw 97 per higher scores in green conditions and 131 per cent higher in green+. Strategy saw an increase of 183 per cent and 288, while information usage rose 172 and 299 per cent higher.
The impact of CO2 on cognitive function was also looked at, despite the fact it is not normally considered a direct indoor pollutant. However, for seven of the nine cognitive functions tested the researchers found average scores decreased as CO2 increased to levels commonly found in many indoor environments.
Usha Satish, professor at the Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University said: “The major significance of this finding lies in the fact that these are the critical decision making parameters that are linked to optimal and productive functioning.
“Losing components of these skills impacts how people handle their day to day lives.”