Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
According to a new study, individuals who live in green buildings have fewer sick days and higher productivity levels. The study also found that green buildings have a lower turnover rate for tenants, as well as reduced vacancy rates, and they earn higher rental income than similar, non-green, buildings.
The study was conducted at the University of San Diego, and measured the average reported sick days of tenants who worked in green versus non-green buildings, as well as reported productivity measures. On average, respondents who worked in green buildings reported approximately 2.9 fewer sick days than respondents in non-green buildings. About 55% claimed that their productivity was improved in a green environment.
Further, the study averaged out the respondents’ salaries and calculated that in an office space that allotted 250 square feet per worker, over a period of 250 days, the decrease in sick days as reported would translate into a savings for the company of approximately $5.00 per square foot. The same factors taken into account for productivity translated into a savings of about $20 per square foot. What’s more, the study’s results showed that green buildings have about 3.5% lower vacancy rates than non-green buildings, and earn about 13% more in rental income.
154 buildings were studied for the research, a total of more than 51 million square feet and 3,000 tenants across the United States. For the purpose of the study, a green building was one that had any level of LEED certification or bore an EPA ENERGY STAR label.
A similar study that recently came up showed that building new, environmentally-friendly buildings, or retrofitting existing ones, could create almost 8 million jobs in the U.S. and generate more than $550 billion in revenue. At its current rate, environmentally-friendly construction supports about 2 million jobs in the U.S. and brings in about $100 billion both in gross domestic product and wages. Over the period between 2000 and 2008, the study found that green construction had an economic impact of $178 billion. Whether you look at it from an environmentally-concerned point of view, an economics and development point of view, or simply a matter of improving productivity in the workplace, it’s obvious that green buildings play a very important role in our future.
Nelson Goulart
Broker of Record with Signature Service GMAC Real Estate
www.infomarketgroup.com
No related posts found
