Quality of sustainable buildings – The impact of sustainable buildings on comfort, well-being and productivity of employees in office buildings

The objective of this research project lies in the evidence of the impact of sustainable office buildings on well-being, satisfaction and job performance of the building users. About 50 per cent of the workers in Switzerland work in the service sector, the vast majority of them in offices. The influence of construction methods on building user therefore is relevant to a large part of the workers in Switzerland. Organizations involved in the project should develop concrete measures as to how future real estate companies can, in this sense, conform to both the aspects of ecological and economic sustainability, as well as achieve the criteria of social sustainability. For this reason, the focus will not only be placed on the optimization of properties, but rather buildings and users will be studied integrally. As an outcome of the project, the results of investigations are to be summarized into a guide for planning and operation of sustainable buildings. Concrete measures are proposed, such as considering the effects of design, construction, renovation and operation, so that benefits of sustainable buildings can be optimally implemented.

The project is carried out by the Divison of Building Technology and within Area of Advance Built Environment.

Keywords: Sustainable building, comfort, performance, well-being, office building, measurements, employees

• Holger Wallbaum

  Full Professor/Research Group Leader, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Building Technology, Sustainable Building

  Holger is a Full Professor in sustainable building at the Division of Building Technology, research group Sustainable Building, and in the Area of advance Building Futures. Holger works within...