Presentation for the Delaware Valley

Green Building Council

Health Benefits of Green

Buildings

Lorna Rosenberg
Alyssa Neir
March 20, 2003
US Environmental Protection Agency, Region III
 Some Facts
• Studies by EPA and Fisk suggest that buildings
with Sick Building Syndrome or places where
there is increased risk of respiratory disease
potentially have a significant loss of
productivity
• A study by the American Medical Association
and the US Army (1990) looked at the
consequences of health problems caused by
poor IAQ
– $150 million in work days/year
– $15 billion in lost productivity/year
• $12 to $125 billion per year can be saved by
improving worker performance through
enhancing the thermal environment and the
lighting
 Office and Retail Buildings
• Approximately 75% of all workers today
work in offices
• A 1% gain in productivity in the services
sector is worth 3.5 times as much as the
same gain in the manufacturing sector
Factors Contributing to Increases
in Productivity Result in…
• Approximately 10% increase in output
• 20% better accuracy
• 40% increase in sales
• 15-40% decrease in absenteeism
• 26% decrease in health complaints
 Output
• Lockheed’s engineering development and
design facility (daylit building)
– 15% increase in their rate of production
• Verifone Worldwide Distribution
Headquarters (upgrade: roof skylights, energy
efficiency, air handlers, natural gas fired
cooling system, high performance windows, 60%
more insulation than code, and occupancy
sensors)
– 5% increase in productivity
– Paid cost of upgrades in less than 1 year; 100% ROI
 Better Accuracy
• Superior Die Set Corporation, Oak
Creek, WI (high benefit lighting retrofit)
– Saved $37,460/year from error reduction
• American Hardware Supply Distribution
Center (high benefit lighting retrofit)
– Saved $1,800/year from error reduction
 Sales
• Heschong Mahone Group studied the
sales performance of 108 stores (2/3
daylighting, 1/3 not)
– 40% average increase in sales in daylit stores

Absenteeism
• Lockheed’s engineering development and
design facility (daylit building)
– 15% decrease in absenteeism
 Health Complaints (Building
Maintenance Response)
• West Bend Mutual Insurance Company
(building built with energy efficient light,
better windows and shell insulation, and
an efficient HVAC system)
– Number of thermal condition complaint calls
decreased from >40 per week to only 2 per
week
• Each call cost about $25 plus $300 in maintenance
Health Benefits
to Schools
 Green Schools Mean…
• Healthier Children from Better Indoor Air
Quality
– Reduces asthma triggers; off-gassing from
building materials and cleaning supplies; and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
– Full Spectrum Lighting
• Higher Test Scores and Faster Progress
– Maximizes daylight through windows and well-
designed skylights
– Control
 Poor Indoor Air Quality
Includes…
• Abundance of Asthma triggers, Off-
gassing, and Mold
– Causal relationships are hard to quantify
• Poor Ventilation
– A study was conducted that found that lower
concentrations of carbon dioxide, achieved
through higher ventilation rates, “...were
associated with higher scores on
computerized tests.”
• An estimated 8.4 million students are in
schools that have poor indoor air quality.
Healthier Children

Full-Spectrum Lighting
• Canadian psychologist Warren
Hathaway found that when full-spectrum
light was used in schools there were
positive results on students
• Vermont psychiatrist Wayne London
(1998) looked at the effects of full-
spectrum fluorescent lighting in schools
– Found that sick days were reduced by 1/3 in
classrooms that had that type of lighting
Case Study Heschong Mahone
Group (1999), funded by PG&E
 The Heschong Mahone Group
Study
• The effects of daylight on student performance
• Findings:
– Classrooms with the most daylighting: Students
progressed 20% faster on math tests and 26% faster
on reading tests
• Test scores were 7-8% higher
– Classrooms with the largest window areas: 15%
faster in math; 23% faster in reading
– Classrooms with a well-designed skylight: improved
19-20% faster
– Classrooms with windows that could be opened:
progressed 7-8% faster
 Heschong Mahone Group
Conclusions
• The effects of daylighting on students’
performance in schools is ‘consistently
positive’ and ‘highly significant’
• Daylighting, which is a feature of green
schools, can only add to a child’s
educational experience.
“Innovative Design’s” (ID) Daylit
Schools in North Carolina
 The Study
• ID designed three schools in Johnston
County
• School’s were designed to maximize
daylight
– Used south-facing roof monitors
– Allowed controlled sunlight to enter the
spaces that were most frequently occupied
• Students’ performance in the daylit
schools was analyzed using California
State test scores
Elementary and Middle School
Results
• Four Oaks Elementary School
– Test scores increased by 3% in the new, daylit
school
• In two daylit Middle Schools
– There was an average increase of 12.5% in
test scores compared to 5% improvement in
all schools countywide
Multiple Years in Daylit Schools
• Average of the math and reading test scores for
the last grade in the school (1992/93 compared
to 1994/95)
• Daylit school’s 7th graders were 17% higher
than the rest of the county
– Selma 7th grade: +32%
– County wide average 7th grade: +15%
• Daylit school’s 8th graders were 11% higher
than the rest of the county
– Clayton 8th grade: +21%
– County wide average 8th grade: +10%
– North Johnston 8th grade: -2%
 Conclusions
• Daylight improved the students’ test
scores from 2% (Clayton) to 13% (Selma)
more than the county wide averages.
• Multiple years in daylit schools show a
greater improvement of 11-17% for math
and reading test scores.
 Better Health and Salaries
• 92% of 30-year building costs is spent on
salaries
• 1% savings in salaries could justify improving
the working environment

(City of Seattle)
Improved Productivity Makes
Financial Sense
Data
Average Salary + Benefits $29,250
Size of Workstation 13.94 m2
Productivity Gain 1%
Building Size 46,451.5 m2
Calculation
1. $29,250 salary/13.94 m2 $2,098.30 per person/m2
2. 1% x $2,098.30 = $20.98 productivity increase/ m2
3. $20.98 productivity $975,000 per year
increase/m2 x 46,451.5 m2 =
A 3% increase in productivity would lead to a benefit of: $2,925,000
per year.
(Carol Lomonaco, Johnson Controls, Inc.)
 Green Buildings and Funding
• "In the context of the philanthropic
community, these linkages [between the
modern medical and public health
professions with the city planners,
engineers, developers, and architects]
provide opportunities for health and care
funders to expand the scope of their
activities, and to collaborate with funders
engaged in the smart growth and livable
communities movement."
The Funders' Network (February 2003)
 Summary
• Health benefits in office buildings lead to
financial benefits
– Health Problems = Productivity = Salaries
for Less Work
– Health Problems = Productivity =
Amount of Work for same Salary
• Health benefits in schools lead to improved
health and performance
• Higher building costs are an investment
that decreases costs over the life of the
building