Greener buildings LEED to better workers

A new study conducted by researchers at Michigan State University shows that employees who work in environmentally friendly buildings are more productive and take less sick days.

 

The researchers took employees working in conventional buildings and placed them in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) buildings, the workers transferred to LEED offices were less prone to absenteeism and stress related problems. Employees also demonstrated a higher level of productivity when working in LEED buildings than conventional offices; this was attributed to perceived improvements in health and well being.

LEED certification is recognized in most countries around the world as the standard for measuring building sustainability, developed by the United States Green Building Council the LEED standard promotes the efficient use of energy and minimal environmental impact.

Environmental architecture is becoming increasingly common around the world, some developments such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado are zero energy constructions, producing more energy than they consume. Whilst not as energy efficient as the NREL, eco-quarters consisting of highly environmentally friendly constructions have been developed in several cities around the world, including- London in the UK, Fribourg Germany, Stockholm Sweden and most recently Paris France.

LEED certification is graded much like a medal system, a list of buildings around the world that have attained the two highest LEED's certifications (Gold and Platinum) can be found below:

http://www.mlandman.com/gbuildinginfo/leedplatinum.shtml