Experts, including those in the AEC community, who have been insisting for years that indoor air quality affects occupants’ performance and health could soon have more ammunition to back up their claims.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Washington University at St. Louis last summer initiated what will be a yearlong experiment to test whether a newly constructed building, designed with easy access to stairways, natural daylight, and other “wellness” features, improves employees’ physical well being and promotes worker collaboration. The Journal also reports that the Well Living Lab, a research facility near the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, early next year will begin clinical trials designed to assess indoor environments, with the goal of creating healthier spaces.
On October 26, Environmental Health Perspectives—a monthly journal of news and research published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Sciences (NIES), the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—released in advance of publication a peer-reviewed paper that details a recent study of 24 participants—architects, designers, programmers, engineers, creative marketers, and managers—who spent six full workdays in an environmentally controlled office space, blinded to test conditions.
The study population was restricted to non-sensitive persons by excluding current smokers and people with asthma, claustrophobia, or schizophrenia.
On different days, the participants were exposed to Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) conditions with high and low concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that were representative of office buildings in the U.S. Additional conditions simulated a Green building with a high outdoor air ventilation rate and artificially elevated carbon dioxide levels independent of ventilation.
The study found that, on average, the participants’ cognitive scores were 61% higher on Green building days and 101% higher on days when the air ventilation was highest (so-called Green+ days), compared to the air quality during “Conventional” building days. “These findings have wide-ranging implications because this study was designed to reflect conditions that are commonly encountered every day in many indoor environments,” the study’s authors state.
A recent study tested the cognition of 24 participants for nine activities, based on different levels of indoor air quality exposure. “Conventional” was air quality that's typical of most office buildings; Green+ indicated the highest level of air ventilation.
The study took place over two weeks in November 2014 at the Willis H. Carrier Total Indoor Environmental Quality Laboratory at the Syracuse Center for Excellence. The lab had two nearly identical office environments located adjacent to one another, each with 12 cubicles.
Cognitive assessment of the participants was performed daily using the Strategic Management Simulation software tool, a validated, computer-based test designed to test the effectiveness of management-level employees through assessments of higher-order decision-making.
The study found that the largest effects of conditions on cognition were seen for Crisis Response, Information Usage, and Strategy. For Crisis Response, for example, scores were 97% higher for the Green condition compared to the Conventional, and 131% higher for participants during Green+ days.
Conversely, “we found statistically significant declines in cognitive function scores when CO2 concentrations were increased to levels that are common in indoor spaces (approximately 950 ppm). In fact, this level of CO2 is considered acceptable because it would satisfy ASHRAE’s ventilation rate guideline for acceptable indoor air quality,” the authors state.
The paper, whose six authors worked under the auspices of NIES, was reviewed and approved by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Institutional Review Board. The participant group was 42% male, 58% female. One-third of the group was between the ages of 20 and 30, and 25% was between the ages of 41 and 50. Ninety-two percent of the group was Caucasian, 54% has a college degree, and 63% holds professional jobs.
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Dec 20, 2022
4 triage design innovations for shorter wait times
Perkins and Will shares a nurse's insights on triage design, and how to help emergency departments make the most of their resources.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 14, 2022
Healthcare construction veteran creates next-level IPD process for hospital projects
Can integrated project delivery work without incentives for building team members? Denton Wilson thinks so.
Architects | Nov 2, 2021
What rugby can teach us about designing the workspace of the future
Two veteran workplace designers offer a sports-based analogy for designing agile spaces to meet the needs of an evolving workforce.
75 Top Building Products | Dec 16, 2019
101 Top Products for 2019
Building Design+Construction readers and editors select their top building products for the past 12 months in the fourth-annual 101 Top Products report.
75 Top Building Products | Dec 16, 2019
Top Interior Building Products for 2019
Arktura's Delta Drop ceiling and CertainTeed's Decoustics Rondolo wood panels are among the 13 new interior products to make Building Design+Construction's 2019 101 Top Products report.
75 Top Building Products | Dec 16, 2019
Top Flooring Products for 2019
Tarkett’s aviation-inspired flooring collection and J+J Flooring’s textile composite flooring are among the four new commercial flooring products to make Building Design+Construction’s 2019 101 Top Products report.
Interior Architecture | Jan 14, 2019
To get more involved earlier in projects, a leading furniture dealer launches a firm for commercial interiors construction
Vantis is positioned to integrate design with offsite customized fabrication.
75 Top Building Products | Mar 22, 2018
101 Top Products: Interior 2018
Among the best interior products included in BD+C's Top 101 Products report are Armstrong Ceiling Solutions' Lyra Concealed Panels and Certainteed Ceilings' decoustics wood ceiling panels.
Office Buildings | Mar 19, 2018
A cost guide to office fit-outs provides comparisons for 59 markets
The new JLL report also finds landlords offering more generous tenant improvement allowances.