Healthy Offices
Living Labs
Testing air quality and productivity at work
A healthy an satisfying workspace is more important than ever. What are the positive effects of natural elements and fresh air? We searched for the answer in two mini living labs.
At Provada's 2019 real estate conference in Amsterdam, we developed and tested healthy and stress-free meeting spaces. We found that by adding solutions like biophilic green walls, meeting spaces can be healthier, cleaner, and more motivating.
In April 2020, during the lockdown period, we tested our at-home work environments to see how the air quality was affecting our productivity. The results showed that frequent interventions of opening windows swiftly reduced CO2 to normal levels and improved our concentration.
Office Living Labs
What are the benefits of biophilic interventions in offices?
What we found out
01
People enjoy work environments with plants up to 24% more
Using 3 test rooms - including a control room and a biophilic (green) installation room -we found that participants rated the rooms with biophilic elements as more pleasant work environments (21% - 24% higher).
02
Green imagery can increase productivity
We assessed the effects of green imagery on productivity and happiness. In the 3rd room, we found that participants reported feeling more alert with the nature imagery (13%) and with the green wall (24%) than in the room without biophilic components.
03
Air quality has a big influence on productivity
With the help of Uhoo air quality devices, we can examine the impacts of biophilic features on air quality. Our research indicates that poor air quality can reduce productivity by up to 10%!
Project Stages
Project design
Installations
Measurement phase
Analysis
Test & Iterate
Main
findings
Stay-at-home living lab
April 2020
Mini at home living lab to see how air quality in home work spaces affects productivity.
Interventions like opening windows at intervals drastically improve air quality.
Poor air quality and temperature can reduce productivity by 10%.
Tracking air quality in workspaces leads to spillover, i.e. focusing on air quality in bedroom.
Partners
