What if indoor air quality could improve decision making? A new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, SUNY Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University found that improved indoor environmental quality doubled occupants’ cognitive function test scores. Since most people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors, the implications of these findings could be highly significant.

Join Urban Green Board Chair John Mandyck (United Technologies), Professor Joseph Allen (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health), and Professor Usha Satish (SUNY Upstate Medical University) for a discussion on the design, execution, findings, and implications of this important study, and the impact of indoor environmental air quality on human health and performance.

Prof. Allen says, “this study suggests that indoor environments can have a profound impact on the decision-making performance of workers, which is a primary indicator of worker productivity. These results are provocative for three reasons. First, they suggest that the levels of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds that we commonly encounter in conventional office buildings are associated with decreases in worker performance compared to when those same workers are in green building environments. Second, when we enhance ventilation and optimize indoor environmental conditions, we see improvements in the cognitive function of workers. And third, these results fill important knowledge gaps in existing research about the relationship between green buildings and occupant health.”

SCHEDULE

4:00 – 5:45 PM   Presentation and Q&A
5:45 – 6:30 PM   Reception