Now that employers have cottoned on to the link between wellbeing and improved productivity, pressure is growing for clients to start taking the concept seriously
Move over energy efficiency, there鈥檚 a new player rising up the sustainability charts. Wellness, or wellbeing as it鈥檚 also called, has become a growing consideration when designing and constructing buildings. For example, property developer British Land based the refurbishment of its London HQ on wellbeing principles, with technology to adjust noise, light, vibration, CO2 levels, temperature, humidity and thermal comfort in each room, as well as atmospheric LED lighting to accompany the daylight pouring in through large windows.
It鈥檚 an issue that鈥檚 becoming more talked about in the industry. So what is wellness? Nailing down a definition can be tricky. As Matthew Webster, sustainability executive at British Land, says: 鈥淲ellness means different things to different people.鈥� For them it鈥檚 about 鈥渨hat the built environment can provide for humans to reach their full potential鈥�. Sturgis Carbon Profiling, writing for 好色先生TV in March, agreed there is 鈥渘o single definition of wellbeing鈥�, but suggested things like the 鈥渆ffect of day lighting levels on mood and performance鈥�.
Given the positive impacts of wellness, clients in various sectors are paying growing attention to it. Webster says: 鈥淎ny impact of wellness will boost productivity, which ultimately boosts the bottom line.鈥� Lend Lease has also got on board. The firm recently announced it will give staff four extra paid 鈥渨ellbeing鈥� days off in addition to their holiday, saying the scheme was for staff to 鈥渁lleviate stress or take part in a wellbeing activity鈥�.
However, when it comes to buildings, not every client has, so far, paid wellness as much attention, particularly not in the early stages of a project. 鈥淚n general it鈥檚 not a decisive factor for clients because they tend to build the building they were going to build anyway, and think of these things afterwards,鈥� says Barny Evans, renewables and energy efficiency consultant at WSP. He adds that the building鈥檚 end-users 鈥渁ren鈥檛 the client, so they don鈥檛 necessarily care about air quality and things like that鈥�.
That said, research suggests a majority of clients are starting to take it seriously. A survey carried out in 2012 by consultant McGraw-Hill showed 55% of firms rated health and wellbing as their top reason for building green, up from 29% in 2008.
In the second of our series exploring the issues behind our key panel debates at the forthcoming 好色先生TV Live conference in November, 好色先生TV examines three issues
the supply chain should know about when considering wellness in design and construction.
1. Impact of wellness on productivity
It鈥檚 now generally accepted that wellness boosts productivity. Better places to work increase happiness, which improves productivity. 鈥淗appy people are more productive,鈥� says Martin Gettings, sustainability manager at Canary Wharf Group. He adds that surveys show tenants who have moved to new Canary Wharf offices from old ones elsewhere are demonstrably happier, which can 鈥渕anifest itself through, for example, improved attendance rates鈥�.
Wellness-orientated buildings can also help firms when enticing new talent. Webster says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 about staff attraction and retention. For Generation Y, there鈥檚 a fuzzier line between work and life.鈥�
But it can also be a doubled-edged sword. Open plan offices, for example, are designed to promote socialising and collaboration between staff. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a downside,鈥� says Evans. 鈥淵ou can spend four hours having five-minute conversations with people with no relevance whatsoever.鈥�
For all the talk about the effect of wellness on productivity, is there a way to measure it? 鈥淭here are three broad categories,鈥� says John Alker at the UK Green 好色先生TV Council. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got the building itself - temperature, lighting, air quality - the perception of staff, and financial or organisational metrics - absences, medical costs, even revenues.鈥� Alker says when the categories are analysed together, 鈥渢rends emerge which can tell you what part of a building is working well and what part isn鈥檛鈥�.
2. Design factors that can influence wellbeing
A lot of the focus on wellness in buildings stems from offices in Silicon Valley, which have led the way with high-tech fit-outs and wacky playgrounds designed to increase both creativity and productivity. But does that mean you need slides spanning three floors to improve staff wellbeing? No. Simon Sturgis, managing director of Sturgis Carbon Profiling, likens the wellbeing-orientated design of a building to drinking out of a plastic bottle - you might not care about what鈥檚 in the plastic, but research shows it can contain chemicals which do you no good. Applying that to buildings, he says it鈥檚 about energy efficiency: 鈥淭he more energy efficient you make the building, the less chance there is you鈥檒l get nasty things growing underneath the floorboards; it鈥檚 about that type of thing really.鈥�
Rab Bennetts, co-founder of architect Bennetts Associates, agrees: 鈥淭he things you do for wellbeing are the things you have to do for sustainability anyway.鈥� Bennetts adds that getting people moving in an age where sitting is becoming the new smoking is also a design factor. He says: 鈥淔itness levels are also important. It鈥檚 things like encouraging people to use staircases, and in low-rise buildings getting people to use staircases exclusively.鈥�
3. Cost vs. savings
When incorporating wellness features in a building, what clients really want to know is, how much more will it cost? 鈥淚f you talk to a quantity surveyor, he might say it will cost a few percentage points more, but I鈥檝e always said the cost is negligible compared to what the client saves in the long term,鈥� says Bennetts.
But he adds that client views are divided between developers and those who occupy the building: 鈥淭he owners/occupiers are very switched on with wellbeing and it鈥檚 strongly linked to their business plan. But developers will follow the market rather than lead it; they鈥檙e reluctant to innovate as the building might not let.鈥� For those who are switched on, Webster says: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there is an additional cost. If you approach the design like this from the beginning, you don鈥檛 need to retrofit.鈥�
Alker adds that the focus on wellbeing has been driven by sustainability professionals, 鈥渨ho are showing how wellbeing is part of the sustainability business case.鈥�
And while some developers aren鈥檛 completely on board, research from Sturgis Carbon Profiling suggests occupiers in central London properties are prepared to pay more if they have a better quality of life associated with them.
鈥榃ellbeing is a headline item鈥�
Caroline Paradise, head of design research, Atkins
The health and wellbeing of building users is gradually replacing sustainability as the headline item on the green building agenda, thanks to a growing recognition that the quality of work/learn/health environments is crucial to people鈥檚 health, wellbeing and performance.
In 2010 the Office of National Statistics (ONS) set out to gauge national wellbeing by measuring subjective feelings of happiness and a sense of worth, as well as objective measures such as life expectancy and educational achievements. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has taken this methodology further by looking at wellbeing across regions and countries, basing comparisons around nine research areas including health, environment and education.
Turning our attention to the built environment, the World Green 好色先生TV Council鈥檚 2014 Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices report presents overwhelming evidence that office design significantly impacts on staff. We can also point to research into healthcare environments which links the effect of excessive noise on stress levels and recovery rates in acute hospital settings (MacKenzie and Galbrun, 2007).
The connection between light, wellbeing and productivity has also been well considered across a number of other building types including schools and universities - again with a clear link between daylight / quality of view and a number of wellbeing indicators such as absenteeism, productivity and performance. As the ONS study identified, the sense of individual worth is also a significant aspect of wellbeing. Within the built environment this perceptual factor could be translated into wellbeing parameters such as interaction and a sense of control over the environment.
The case, then, has been made but there鈥檚 still more to learn and respond to as a design and construction community, especially as clients become more focused on wellbeing as a differentiator in competitive markets.
Understanding the complexities and interconnected nature of wellbeing parameters at the beginning of a project is the only way to deliver environments that maintain the wellbeing of those that inhabit them. Design teams must adopt a multi-dimensional approach to decision making - broaden horizons to see the whole picture. As with realising
鈥渟ustainable鈥� buildings, a silo mentality in project teams will create hurdles, which can鈥檛 be good for anyone鈥檚 wellbeing.
Sitting alongside sustainability, our renewed interest in health and wellbeing should be celebrated and embraced as it will drive improvements in design and challenge the way we think about our surroundings.
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