BACKGROUND The indoor built environment plays a critical role in our overall well-being because of both the amount of time we spend indoors (~90%) and the ability of buildings to positively or negatively influence our health. The advent of sustainable design or green building strategies reinvigorated questions regarding the specific factors in buildings that lead to optimized conditions for hea...

We investigated the effects of improved indoor environmental quality (IEQ) on perceived health and productivity in occupants who moved from conventional to green (according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ratings) office buildings. In 2 retrospective-prospective case studies we found that improved IEQ contributed to reductions in perceived absenteeism and work hours affected by...

This paper provides the first systematic analysis of the choice by organizations to occupy green office space. We develop a framework of ecological responsiveness, and we formulate five propositions to explain why specific firms and industries may be more likely to lease green space. We test these propositions by analyzing the decisions of more than 11,000 tenants to choose office space in gree...

This e-fact aims to raise awareness of the occupational safety and health (OSH) risks associated with the planning and construction of green buildings, their maintenance, renovation (retrofitting) and demolition, as well as the collection of related construction or demolition waste on site (excluding the subsequent waste treatment and recycling). Some of these OSH risks are new compared with tr...

This paper carries a deep analysis on the cost and economical attributes of green buildings, and points out that in order to promote the development of the green building market, the government should motivate the property developers by maintaining a balance in the profits among the project participants, apart from the necessary supervision and constraint. This paper defines all the parameters ...