# Presentation: 871989

## 
White House Summit on Sustainable Buildings
January 24, 2006

William Fisk*
Sr. Scientist, Department Head
Indoor Environment Department
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

**White House Summit on Sustainable Buildings**
**January 24, 2006**
**William Fisk***
**Sr. Scientist, Department Head**
**Indoor Environment Department**
**Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory**

**Economic Benefits of Improved IAQ, Health, and Productivity in Sustainable Buildings**

## How Sustainable Buildings Could Improve  Health & Productivity

- Green/Sustainable Buildings

- Superior Work Performance

**Economic Benefits**

- Better Health

- Reduced Health Care Costs

- Less Absence

- Thermal state
-  Hearing and concentration
- Vision
-  Mood
- Mental performance

- Improved  Indoor Environmental Quality

- Better  design, construction, commissioning & O&M

## How Sustainable/Green Buildings (seek to) Provide Better IAQ

**Specified compliance with thermal comfort and ventilation standards (better temperature control  and ventilation than in typical buildings?)**
**Credits for low emission sources of volatile organic compounds**
**Credits for tobacco smoke control**
**More often use natural ventilation / less often use air conditioning**
**Credits for commissioning which may improve building operation and IAQ**

## The Costs of People Overshadow Building Costs 

- Source : Woods (1989) Occupational Medicine 4: 753-770

**Significance**
**Very small percentage**
**improvements in  work performance will pay for large percentage increases in operation and maintenance costs.**

## Health Care Costs Are Substantial

- *U.S. Data from 1995 or 1996

## Some Known or Suspected Beneficial Characteristics of  Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)

**Higher ventilation rate**
**Better temperature control**
**Better lighting quality?**
**Improved acoustics ?**

**Higher ventilation rate**
**Reduced allergens and chemicals**
**No indoor smoking**
**Reduced moisture problems**

**Improved Work Performance **

**Health-Related Economic Benefits**

## The Evidence: Part 1, Temperature

**Major Point**
**High and low temperature is associated with objectively measured decrements in work performance**

## Relative Work Performance vs. Temperature

**Source: Statistical analysis of research data from 24 studies relating temperature with objectively measured work performance outcomes **
**Seppanen and Fisk (2005)**

**Relative Work Performance vs. Temperature**
**(maximum performance at at 21.8 ****o****C, 72 ****o****F )**

## Estimated Economic Value of Work Performance Changes from 1 oC (1.8 oF) Shift in Temperature Toward Optimum

| Temp. Change | Increase in Performance | Annual Economic Benefit Per Worker* |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 19 to 20 oC
66.2 to 68 oF | 0.9% | $900 |
| 20 to 21 oC
68 to 69.8 oF | 0.4% | $400 |
| 23 to 22 oC
73.4 to 71.6 oF | 0.3% | $300 |
| 24 to 23 oC
75.2 to 73.4 oF | 0.6% | $600 |

- *Assuming $100K cost per worker for salaries and benefits

## The Evidence: Part 2, Ventilation

**Major Points**
**Higher ventilation rate (higher rate of outdoor air supply) is associated with objectively measured improvements in work performance**
**Higher ventilation rate  is associated with reduced respiratory illness, less absence, and reduced sick building symptoms**

## Performance relative to performance with 6.5 L/s-person (13 cfm/person)

**Performance relative to performance with 6.5 L/s-person (13 cfm/person)**

**Source: Statistical analysis of research data from 10 studies relating ventilation with objectively measured work performance outcomes; Seppanen, Fisk, Lei-Gomez (Indoor Air Journal 2005)**

## Slide 12

## An example of data on ventilation and short term sick leave

**Short term sick leave**

**12 L/s**

**24 L/s  per person**

**1.16 %**

**1.96 %**

**1.6 day****s**
** ****per year**

*(Milton et al. 2000)*

**24 cfm**

**48 cfm per person**

**40 buildings**
**in study**

## Estimated Average Value of 5 L/s-person (10 cfm/person) Increase in  Minimum Ventilation Rate

**Better Work Performance **
**0.42% performance increase**
**+$420 per worker per year***
**Reduced Absence**
**0.7 days per year (per Milton et al.  2000, assuming linear)**
**+$250 per worker per year**
**Energy cost**
**$6 to  $12 per person per year (with avg. 2003 energy prices)**
**can reduce energy costs with heat recovery or other technologies**
**use of 100% outdoor air for free cooling in mild weather should simultaneously save energy, improve performance, and reduce absence**

- *at $100K salary plus benefits

## The Evidence: Part 3, Building Moisture & Mold

**Major Points**
**Moisture problems and mold are associated with respiratory symptoms and asthma exacerbation**
**Moisture and mold are common in all building types and occur in HVAC systems**
**The solution is prevention and remediation of dampness problems**

## Increased Health Effects in Buildings with Dampness or Mold

**Homes (meta-analysis of available data)**
**77% (47% - 112) more cough  [19 studies]**
**81% (45% to 126%) more wheeze [16 studies]**
**51% (41% to 62%) more with current asthma [10 studies]**
** ****Workplaces (only a few studies performed)**
**Examples**
** ****US office building with history of dampness ******** Current asthma was  120% of normal ******** 12% of sick leave attributable to respiratory symptoms at work**
**Working in moldy buildings in Finland ******** 54% more adults developed asthma**
**Working in moldy building in Sweden ******** 300% more adults developed asthma**
**In  80 complaint US office buildings where drainage of cooling coil drain pan was poor, number of occupants with multiple asthma symptoms was increased by 260%* **

- *Note: Findings not replicated in analyses of data from 100 non-complaint office buildings

## Economic Benefits  of Avoiding Dampness /Mold in Workplaces

** ****Reduced number of workers with current asthma symptoms**
**Less absence, better work performance, health care savings**
**Reduction in other health symptoms that may impair work performance**
**Better work performance?**
**Avoided potentially large, but highly variable, costs of building investigations and remediation**
**Mold remediation cost has exceeded original building cost**

## Economic Benefits of Measures that Prevent Sick Building Syndrome Symptoms

## Conclusions

**IAQ improvements in workplaces can bring substantial economic benefits**
**From better work performance**
**From improved health**
**Potential economic benefits are large relative to costs of improved building design or operation, although uncertainty remains high**
**Sustainable/green buildings aim for better IAQ ******** if realized in practice the economic benefits may be large**
**Changes in the specifications/credits for sustainable buildings could bring about additional and more clearly documented economic benefits**
**Recommend greater focus on ventilation rates and on reducing dampness**
**  **

## Backup Slides Follow

## % Change in Performance per 1 oC  Increase in Temperature –Meta Analysis

**% Increase in Performance per 1 ****o****C**

- Source: Seppanen, Fisk, Lei-Gomez (2005)

##  1 L/s = 2 cfm

-  1 L/s = 2 cfm

- Source: Seppanen, Fisk, Lei-Gomez (Indoor Air Journal)

**Increase in work performance per 10 L/s-person increase in ventilation rate**

## Air Conditioning (AC) Link to Increased SBS Symptoms in Offices

- Source: Seppanen and Fisk, Indoor Air Journal 2002

**Type of ventilation system**