Productivity and performance
The right indoor climate can make a huge difference to our productivity and performance, from making us more alert to giving us a better sleep.
The indoor climate impacts more than we think
Along with the health aspects, it is also important that the indoor environment promotes productivity and performance.
We are generally very keen to obtain tools to be as effective as possible in our daily lives, for example creating good conditions for learning in our schools through competent teachers and good teaching materials.
Unfortunately, the indoor climate is often forgotten in these discussions, despite the fact that there are many factors that have a great impact on our performance and productivity.
Each day our body needs...
What is productivity and performance?
BetterUp defines productivity, in terms of human development, as personal productivity and how consistently and efficiently an individual completes tasks or accomplishes goals. For productivity to exist, there must be a goal and a plan to achieve the goal.
By definition by the Cambridge Dictionary, the performance is defined as how well a person, machine, etc. does a piece of work or an activity. Performance also refers to how well an activity or job is done.
At work
As many as 33% believe that ventilation affects their work capacity to a great extent.
The same study also shows that 57% believe that ventilation is much better at home than in the workplace, which provides good incentives to invest in a well-functioning indoor climate in the workplace and in schools where we generally spend most of our time.
At work - Read more
Increased ventilation improves results
This graph represents results from a study done on students - it shows that by moving from 'open-window' ventilation to a balanced mechanical ventilation, basic reaction time, basic memory and word recognition has a marked improvement.
At school
Children spend a considerable amount of their time in crowded classrooms and most teachers are aware of how sound levels affect children’s learning abilities and therefore put a lot of effort in to keep noise done.
However, teachers may not be aware of the impact of factors such as temperature and air quality, and often have no possibility to measure them.
When the carbon dioxide in a classroom is too high, pupils become restless and disruptive. They lose their concentration and their learning ability decreases significantly. When the ventilation rate is doubled, research shows that the students' performance can rise by around 15%.
Moreover, cognitive testing of students shows a 5% decrease in attention in poorly ventilated classrooms. The researchers equate this to the effect of a student skipping breakfast.
At school - learn more
Spending more time at home might affect our productivity, happiness and health
Some studies suggest that we believe we spend 18% of our time inside (so about four hours per day). In reality, it’s closer to 90% (about 21 hours per day). All that time inside affects our health and happiness. And indoor environments are now the main source of our exposure to air pollution.
At home - Find out more
Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.Paul J. Meyer