Sustainable Facilities Tool

Health

Good health has both physical and psychological components. Being healthy means the absence of disease and illness, as well as feeling positive about life and work. The workplace can play a role in the health of workers by eliminating risks and creating conditions that support cognitive, emotional, and social well being.

Achieving Both Healthfulness And Sustainability: Key Practices

1. Design for psychological well being - provide daylight for aesthetic pleasantness, access to views for mental and visual rest, and convivial break areas.
2. Bring nature indoors. Provide indoor plants to enhance the visual appeal of space and promote health.
3. Use windows as connectors. Enable windows to provide fresh air and daylight, views to outdoor activity, and connections to green spaces and large trees.
4. Choose healthy materials. Carpeting and furnishings should be selected with human health and air quality in mind.
5. Support the body with ergonomic furnishings. Provide ergonomic workstations and computer keyboards and train people on proper use.
6. Promote exercise. Provide a workout facility and encourage use of the stairs for both health and energy savings.
7. Enable personal control. Provide workstation controls for lighting, ventilation, and window operation to enable people to adjust conditions to personal needs and preferences.

Benefits:

Social:

• Improved employee morale.
• Improved ability to concentrate and re-focus attention.
• Reduced physical and psychological stress.

Economic:

• Reduced costs of illnesses and muscular-skeletal injury.

Environmental:

• Reduced energy consumption from daylight and personal controls.

Case Study: GSA Office of Civil Rights, Washington, DC

Strategy:

The Office of Civil Rights wanted to work more effectively as a team, but found that their workplace made that difficult. Workstations with high panels and spaces separated by a central hallway made it difficult for people to work together. Everyone worked alone. The result was an office with a morale problem as well as a team problem.

The new workspace was designed to be more open and inviting, with bright colors, daylight, plants, and decor selected by the staff.

Results

• Increased sense of belonging, getting to know people, and feeling energized at work.
• Improved ability to work as a team and coordinate tasks.
• Higher satisfaction with aesthetics and ambient conditions.

Denver Federal Center, PBS Office Renovation

Design Results

Results of post-occupancy research on six federal buildings shows improved well being in the new workspaces.

Factor	Percentage of Workers Indicating Workspace Improvement
Effect on Stress	50%
Getting to Know People	57%
Job Satisfaction	59%
Personal Wellbeing	60%

Project Checklist

• No odors, stuffiness, or stale air reported by occupants or observed during an expert walkthrough.
• Work spaces are isolated from pollution sources such as copiers, large printers, and auto exhaust.
• Lighting fixture used in the workspace are either indirect or, direct-indirect pendant lighting or indirect lay-in fixtures to reduce glare and visual stress.
• Ceiling mounted fluorescent lamps have a color rendering index (CRI) of 80 or higher.
• Workstations have controllable task light, preferably light that can be moved as needed. Task lamps are compact fluorescent.
• Workstations are separated from noise-generating activities and equipment.
• Daylight and views are available to all workstations that are regularly occupied.
• Furniture and computer equipment are selected for ergonomic qualities and health (e.g. low-emitting furniture).
• Living plants are located throughout the office space and properly cared for.

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