From the sixth floor up, the new Federal Building in San Francisco lets you open windows to breathe in fresh air from outdoors.
This is only one of dozens of ways that architects have pulled out all stops to design an environmentally friendly and healthy 18-story office building, but it’s a signal of the importance of fresh air in good worker health.
Professors at the Harvard School of Public Health studied ventilation in 40 buildings owned by Polaroid and found that people working in offices that were moderately ventilated were 53 percent more likely to miss work for illness than were workers in areas with highly ventilated work areas.
The most punishing indoor air is endured by farm workers who spend a good portion of their day in a barn with livestock, especially during winter months. Chronic bronchitis, occupational asthma or Farmers’ Lung Disease are debilitating diseases common among such workers.
Other buildings such as hotels, restaurants, bars, hospitals, banks, and a variety of enterprises that function in closed space are also associated with higher than average rates of lung problems for full-time workers.
Good air can save money in addition to slashing the cost of illness. The Federal Building mentioned above estimates that natural ventilation in 70 percent of the building will save about half a million dollars a year in operating costs. A mechanical cooling system saved $8 million in construction costs, and the use of daylight in 80 percent of the building is cutting lighting costs by 26 percent.
Obviously, the best time to plan for better ventilation is during the design phase. Even after years of working in the same building, however, HVAC experts can analyze a specific situation and make suggestions for improving the flow of air.
Fresh air indoors isn’t always inexpensive, but stagnant and polluted air can cost even more in worker health costs and lower productivity. Give your workers plenty of clean air to breathe.
