We all instinctively know that poor indoor environmental conditions lead to dissatisfied, unproductive and unwell building occupants.
Over the past three years, CE has been working as a member of the Whole Life Performance Plus (WLP+) consortium to gain an empirical, evidence-based understanding of how to optimise working conditions and improve building user experience, performance and productivity in workplaces.
The WLP+ project demonstrates and proves that optimising the indoor environment will allow workers to perform at increased cognitive capability, speed and accuracy of work and output.
For example, the study found, in case study buildings, that when CO2 levels were optimised with better ventilation, workers performed up to 12% better in tests.
The implications of this ground-breaking study are dramatic. Previous studies1, 2 have shown that UK productivity can be improved by between 2 and 3.5% by optimising workplaces, which equates to £40 – £70 billion of additional output to the UK economy.
This shows that buildings and workplaces designed, built and optimised for indoor environmental conditions and quality will perform better, add more value and deliver a better return on investment than those that do not.
In summary, this research proves that workplaces which are optimised for indoor environmental conditions enable workers to perform at higher levels.
It demonstrates another example and route for organisations to use their built assets and workplaces to enhance their performance and that of the UK.
About the WLP+ Project
The £530,000 Whole Life Performance Plus (WLP+) project brings together a consortium of leading experts in building performance, property development and facilities management. LCMB Building Performance Ltd. and Low Carbon Building Research Group of Oxford Brookes University are co-leads on the project. The WLP+ solutions have been tested in office buildings managed by Argent (developer) and EMCOR UK (facilities management) and those owned and occupied by King’s College London. Throughout the project, findings have been disseminated by the British Council for Offices and Constructing Excellence.
About John O’Brien
John is the chairman of CE’s asset management group and the Founder and MD of LCMB Building Performance who co-lead the WLP+ project. He can be contacted on t: 01295 722823, e: [email protected], www.lcmb.co.uk
1The Stoddart review (2016) http://stoddartreview.com/
2 BCO(2017) Defining and measuring productivity in offices
