Productive

by the WBDG Productive Committee

Last updated: 08-13-2009

Overview

Organizations, work practices, and the workforce have changed dramatically in the past two decades. Technological advances, demographic shifts, and continual demands for innovation have created pressures for the workplace to catch up with the changing nature of work.

Organizational effectiveness today means using space more wisely. This does not just mean cutting costs. It means designing for flexibility to enable space to change as work groups and projects evolve. Wise use of space also means creating the right context for concentration, learning, communication, and collaboration—the building blocks of productivity.

It is often hard to quantify the impacts of specific components of the indoor environment on productivity, because individual and group work effectiveness is tied to many different factors—including compensation levels, management practices, and environmental comfort. It is difficult, if not impossible, to isolate individual physical factors, such as the presence or absence of team rooms, daylighting, natural meeting places, or control over the environment. This problem is exacerbated in the case of white-collar workers whose "output" is knowledge or insight that cannot be easily quantified.

Nonetheless, an increasing number of studies are beginning to suggest that support for communication and collaboration as well as for individual cognitive activity are fundamental aspects of organizational productivity. The GSA agrees and concludes in The Integrated Workplace (PDF 3.07 MB, 167 pgs) that "since people are the most important resource and greatest expense of any organization, the long-term cost benefits of a properly designed, user-friendly work environment should be factored into any initial cost considerations."

One way to do such "factoring" is to consider the total life-cycle costs of a workplace each year. In private sector offices, such costs are typically, in order of magnitude:

• $200 per square foot per year for salaries
• $20 per square foot per year for amortized bricks and mortar costs, and
• $2.00 per square foot per year for energy.

In this situation, an additional $2 per square foot per year for bricks and mortar costs (e.g. for providing greater flexibility) would pay for itself if it generated a modest 1% increase in salary "productivity." Note: Design strategies that increase user satisfaction and that improve individual and group work effectiveness should therefore be considered not as cost 'extras,' but as productivity investments that enhance an organization's overall success.

Buildings can be more effective, exciting places to work and live by encouraging adaptability, improving comfort, supporting sense of community, and by providing connections to the natural environment, natural light, and view.

There are five fundamental principles of productive building designs:

• Promote Health and Well-Being
  Indoor environments strongly affect human health. An effective workplace should be designed to support and enhance the health and well-being of its occupants. Sustainable design principles help achieve this objective.
• Provide Comfortable Environments
  A workplace designed and operated to provide the highest achievable levels of visual, acoustic, and thermal comforts for its occupants is the underpinning of worker effectiveness.
• Design for the Changing Workplace
  Providing spaces with flexibility, social support, and technology to promote new ways of working is a cornerstone of change and innovation.
• Integrate Technological Tools
  Effectively integrating technological tools and distribution networks required in today's office environments to enable workers to perform their duties starts first and foremost with properly designed pathways and spaces.
• Assure Reliable Systems and Spaces
  Reliability is one of the greatest concerns for building occupants—it directly affects their safety, health, and comfort. Workers must be able to rely on building systems, equipment, and tools that function consistently and are properly maintained.

Note: Information in these Productive pages must be considered together with other design objectives and within a total project context in order to achieve quality, high-performance buildings. Also, workplace productivity strategies support sustainable design principles and should be taken on balance for the longevity of systems considered.

Relevant Codes and Standards

• Executive Order 13423, "Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management"
• Federal Acquisition Regulations, Parts 48, Value Engineering
• Federal Acquisition Regulations, Parts 52, Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses
• OMB Circular A-131
• Public Law 104-106, Section 4306, Value Engineering for Federal Agencies

Major Resources

WBDG

Building / Space Types

Applicable to all building types and space types, especially those regularly occupied or visited.

Project Management

Building Commissioning

Tools

Building Life-Cycle Cost (BLCC), LEED® Version 2.1 Credit / WBDG Resource Page Matrix, LEED®-DoD Antiterrorism Standards Tool

Federal Agencies

• EPA National Center for Environmental Research
• U.S. General Services Administration, Office of Governmentwide Policy, Office of Real Property
• Workplace 20·20, U.S. General Services Administration

Organizations

• Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture
• The American Institute of Architects
• American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)
• International Facility Management Association (IFMA)
• CoreNet Global
• National Research Council of Canada—Institute for Research in Construction—A leading international organization studying the effects of environmental comfort on occupant productivity

Publications

• The Agile Workplace: Supporting People and Their Work by Gartner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and 22 Industry Sponsors, 2001.
• Collaborative Knowledge Work Environments by Judith Heerwagen, Kevin Kampschroer, Kevin Powell, and Vivian Loftness. Building Research & Information, 32(6):510-528, 2004.
• Daylighting and Human Performance by Lisa Heschong. ASHRAE Journal, June 2002.
• DOE Building Studies by the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University, 1994.
• "Environmental Satisfaction, Personal Control and the Positive Correlation to Increased Productivity" (PDF 170 KB, 16 pgs) White paper by Johnson Controls Personal Environments.
• Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service, P100 by the General Service Administration (GSA).
• Further Findings from the Office of Environment Survey: Productivity. Proceedings of Indoor Air '90: Fifth International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate by Gary Raw and Michael Roys. Toronto, Ontario: 1:231-36, 1990.
• Green Buildings, Organizational Success and Occupant Productivity by Judith Heerwagen, Building Research & Information, 28 (5/6): 353-367, 2000.
• "Greening the Building and the Bottom Line: Increasing Productivity Through Energy-Efficient Design" (PDF 1.16 MB, 17 pgs) White paper by Rocky Mountain Institute.
• Healthy Buildings and their Impact on Productivity. Proceedings of Indoor Air '93: Sixth International International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate by David Wyon. Helsinki, Finland: 6:3-13, 1993.
• How IEQ Affects Health, Productivity (PDF 220 KB, 3 pgs) by William J. Fisk, P.E., Member ASHRAE. ASHRAE Journal, May 2002.
• IEQ and the Impact on Building Occupants (PDF 105 KB, 3 pgs) by Satish Kumar, Ph.D., Member ASHRAE and William J. Fisk, P.E., Member ASHRAE. ASHRAE Journal, April 2002.
• Integrated Systems: Increasing Building and Workplace Performance by BOMA International Foundation. 2000.
• The Integrated Workplace: A Comprehensive Approach to Developing Workspace (PDF 3.07 MB, 167 pgs) by Office of Real Property in the Office of Governmentwide Policy of the U.S. General Services Administration. May 1999.
• New Adventures in Office Space: The Integrated Workplace - A Planning Guide by the Office of Real Property and Office of Governmentwide Policy of the U.S. General Services Administration. February 2002.
• The New Office: With 20 International Case Studies by Francis Duffy. Antique Collectors Club, 1997.
• "Relationships Between the Indoor Environment and Productivity: A Literature Review," ASHRAE Transactions by N. Sensharma, et al. 1998.
• Rensselaer's West Bend Mutual Study: Using Advanced Office Technologies to Increase Productivity by Walter Kroner, et al. Troy, NY: Center for Architectural Research, 1992. One of the most carefully documented studies on increases in productivity as a result of improved environmental quality.
• Sustainable Building Technical Manual by the United States Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1996.
• Total Workplace Performance: Rethinking the Office Environment by Stanley Aronoff and Audrey Kaplan (eds.). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: WDL Publications, 1995.
• Using Office Design to Increase Productivity by Michael Brill, et al, and the Buffalo Organization for Social and Technological Innovation (BOSTI). 1994. A major study of the relationship between productivity and user satisfaction in 6,000 office buildings throughout the United States during a five-year period.
• Workplace by Design: Mapping the High-Performance Workscape by Franklin Becker and Fritz Steele. Jossey-Bass, 1995.

Others

• BetterBricks.com
• Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics—Carnegie Mellon University
• Center for the Built Environment—The Contribution of Building Design and Operation to Productivity, University of California at Berkeley
• The Workplace Forum—DEGW, A private site dedicated to information on emerging office environments