Green Design & Your Cognitive Abilities

If you’ve ever had any doubt about the way that our environment affects our overall health and well-being, Harvard University has all the data you need to become a believer. Researcher’s from Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment carried out a controlled study wherein the mental performance of its participants was measured as a variable of their surrounding environment. Not surprisingly, the results of this study provide a scientific basis for what anecdotal evidence has told us for years: our collective mental performance is suffering as a result of poor indoor air quality.

How the Study was Designed

The Total Indoor Environmental Quality Lab (located at the Syracuse Center of Excellence) was converted to mimic an average indoor office environment. You can see this transformation featured in the image below. In the study, 24 participants were asked to spend six full working days in this mock office over the span of two weeks.

Each day over that two week period, the subjects were exposed to one of three types of environments. In the conventional setting, air quality matched that of the average commercial space in the United States. Ventilation in this environment was poor, and the concentration of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) was high. A second mock environment, a green setting, was created using average ventilation and a low concentration of VOCs. Finally, the third setting was an enhanced green environment, featuring high ventilation and low VOCs.

Participants were blinded to each day’s air quality status, and they went about their daily routines as they normally would. At the end of each day, participants were administered a cognitive test, which included metrics in the following mental performance areas:

• Basic, Applied, and Focused Activity Levels

• Task Orientation

• Crisis Response

• Information Seeking and Usage

• Breadth of Approach

• Strategy

Findings of the Study

As you may have guessed, cognitive scores were significantly higher in green environments. In fact, they were higher by 61% in green buildings, and an astounding 101% higher in the enhanced green environment. An additional point of interest for the general public is how this study demonstrated that volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, and ventilation each have a profound, independent effect on our mental abilities. It is not enough to address only one of these concerns in your home or work environment.

What This Means for You

This study was specifically designed to reflect poor indoor air quality in environments with a high volume of people. The primary focus was placed on a work setting as a means of illustrating how green building design can improve the productivity of employees. Obviously, employers and commercial building owners should take note of these findings.

However, the same principles apply to our home environments. We should not overlook the effects of our home air quality on our health and that of our families. How do you suppose this affects your energy levels (and the way you feel, in general) when you are at home? Have you considered how your home’s ventilation might impact your child’s performance in school? The point here is that the basic premise behind this study’s findings are incredibly far-reaching. According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the average person spends approximately 90% of their time indoors. You owe it to yourself to make the most of that time. Green design is not trendy; it is not a passing fad. It’s a matter of personal health that you can’t afford to ignore.If you are interested in learning how green principles may be incorporated into your home’s design, contact us for an initial consultation.