Are energy-efficient workplaces healthier? Just Google it

When people talk about the business case for energy-efficient buildings achieved through comprehensive measures like deep energy retrofits, what usually comes to mind first is lower energy bills. However, an increasing number of organizations are recognizing the value beyond energy cost savings that energy-efficient buildings provide.

Last year, Rocky Mountain Institute wrote about深度能量改造如何降低医疗保健的成本。It turns out that energy-efficient buildings do more than just reduce energy bills for energy-hungry healthcare buildings. They also improve the quality of the healthcare services that these companies provide. For example, energy efficiency measures addressing low ventilation rates and airflow in healthcare facilities reduce the risk of transmitting infectious diseases, as high ventilation rates and airflow have been shown togreatly reduce空气疾病的传播。研究发现患者sunny hospital rooms versus rooms using artificial light保持减少的逗留时间，对患者留下来说也观察到趋势医院客房配有窗户俯瞰大自然现场。此外，普林斯顿的大学医疗中心发现了它的airy, sunny and calming hospital roomsled to a 30 percent reduction in pain medicine requests, record-low infection rates and patient satisfaction in the 99th percentile.

But the direct and indirect health benefits of energy efficiency improvements need not be confined to the healthcare industry. Many organizations in other sectors are beginning to account for and harvest energy efficiency’s value beyond energy cost savings, including improved employee health. Improved healthand other beyond-energy benefitsare changing the game in the way real estate stakeholders across all sectors evaluate prospective investments in energy-efficient buildings.

Google, energy efficiency and employee health

Google claims it always puts the user first. It should come as no surprise that the company wants to provide a great user experience for employees. This is why it values healthy workplaces conducive to employee well-being. And it is also why Google invests in energy-efficient buildings.

“Energy efficiency is a huge focus for Google — both in our productivity and our operations — and we’ve found that it aligns with our goals for healthy workplaces,” Anne Less, Google [e]Team Innovation Program Manager, told RMI. “There is a strong correlation between workplace satisfaction and temperature, and similarly with Googlers’ self-reported productivity.”

Google evaluates decisions it makes for workplaces through the lens of the company’s values for health, user experience and sustainability. These factors are considered throughout the real estate lifecycle — from concept, through design and construction to building operations — and are increasingly weighed equally with factors such as cost and energy depending upon the project at hand.

To achieve greater employee satisfaction and reduce health costs, Google makes efforts to create innovative designs with natural light and clean air, eliminate exposure to harmful chemicals and use natural resources more intelligently in its facilities. The company also experiments with ways to provide energy-efficient and comfortable office environments for employees, testing measures both at the workplace level and more broadly with HVAC systems. Google’s successful efforts, such as achieving half the national average for traditional office energy use in its test building, help push the boundaries for energy efficiency and provide examples to others demonstrating why making investments that benefit employees bears fruit to the bottom line.

The health case for energy-efficient buildings

RMI’sDeep Retrofit Value practice guide描述了暗示节能工作场所是更健康的工作场所的实质性证据。研究表明，通过降低心理压力，病毒日，哮喘症状，呼吸疾病甚至慢性肺病和癌症的病变数，生病日，发病率和严重程度，可以改善健康。为什么？提高建筑能源性能的措施可以帮助控制水分和污染物的来源，改善通风和进入外部空气，提供室内热舒适和迎风，并提供更明显的自然环境。例如，一项研究发现modern office designs using daylighting and offering a view reduce stress levels明显超过传统的办公室设计。另一项研究发现了一个在办公室的通风率加倍和35％的短期缺失减少之间的关联。

组织在员工健康方面具有实用但有意义的股份，因为劳动力成本通常代表其最大的成本。因此，深度能量改造的健康益处可以对底线具有巨大影响，即使该措施仅减少了百分点或两个百分点的病天数量。事实上，由于组织的劳动力成本往往比能源成本要大得多，所以对能源效率措施产生的身体和心理健康的略微改善的财政价值可能超过昂贵的能源票据的价值。

A company that has healthier employees puts more of its money to productive uses. Both employer and employee therefore win from measures such as deep energy retrofits that create a healthier work environment. Investing in measures that improve employee health also enhances the health profile of companies, enabling more favorable contracts and directly reducing expenses with health insurance and medical providers. Energy-efficient buildings thereby offer a means for organizations to both show commitment to improving society and boost their bottom line.

“投资于Googlers的健康和幸福提供了我们关心的业务成果，包括创新，保留和表现，”较少。“我们知道员工更加富有成效，更有趣。”

除了谷歌

任何公司，大或小型，都有能节能健康工作场所提供的机会。承认在这些更好的工作场所环境中投资的谷歌等高调公司意味着提供信心的源头而不是威慑。谷歌等公司在房地产决策中将能源效率和健康福利配对的事实增强了其他房地产决策者对能源成本节约超出能源效率的价值的信心。

为所有形状和尺寸的组织提供节能，健康建筑物。在建筑物中实现更高水平的能源绩效不仅具有现有技术和政策的技术上可行的努力，而且是一个提供利润丰厚的金融机会的能力。

现在是时候开始思考建筑物作为价值的来源而不是成本来源。现在是时候反思了节能，健康建筑物的底线效益失踪的风险。现在是时候开始分配适合组织的全套内部和外部资金，以加速现有建筑物中深度能源改造的投资。

Just Google it.

Google Campus午餐室的顶级图像由Christophe Wu / Google提供礼貌