Sustainable design: why green is good but the impact mixed

by Sally Augustin
// Research

As companies repurpose their workplaces for a post-pandemic future, green design is high on the business agenda. There’s a feel-good factor around sustainability, but scientific research suggest that not everything in the garden is rosy

Sustainable design is certainly good for the planet. But are there other reasons we should act in earth-friendly ways? Research has shown that there are all sorts of reasons why we should strive for sustainable design.

Green design, of buildings generally and in workplaces, has been tied to enhanced user health via multiple studies (Zitars, Spadafore, Coulombe, Riemer, Dreyer, and Whitney, 2021). Allen and colleagues (2015),  for example, conducted a literature review and identified ‘better indoor environmental quality in green buildings versus non-green buildings, with direct benefits to human health for occupants of those buildings’.

View the report  here.

Written by Sally Augustin.