Green buildings don’t create happier workers, yet

Think working in an environmentally green building leads to greater satisfaction in the workplace?  Think again. People working in buildings certified under LEED's green building standard appear no more satisfied with the quality of their indoor workplace environments than those toiling in conventional buildings, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. The work, which counters the findings of several earlier studies examining the same issue, was done by Stefano Schiavon , an assistant professor of architecture in sustainability, energy and environment at UC Berkeley's Center for the Built Environment (CBE) and associate professor Sergio Altomonte with the University of Nottingham's Environmental Physics and Design Research Group. The findings were published in the April issue of the journal Building and Environmen t and expand on Schiavon and Altomonte's previous work on the topic by determining that most workers do not experience a higher level of workplace satisfaction simply because they work in LEED certified buildings - regardless of the building layout, amount of time in the workplace and many other factors. LEED is a rating system that certifies buildings as green if they incorporate environmentally friendly solutions that reduce the use of water, energy and other resources. Questions have lingered about whether workers in these buildings feel any better off than occupants of non-LEED structures.