The human green office experience: Happy and healthy or sick and frustrated

Adopting the proposition that the effect on people using, interacting or working in a ‘green’ workplace environment is not currently clear nor fully understood, the purpose of this research is to examine what the green workplace environment is like from the perspective of one of this sub group – the users’/employees’– especially when it comes to satisfaction levels and health outcomes. This study examines and compares responses between employees in green and in non-green workplace environments in order to determine if a gap exists between the satisfaction and health levels of these two groups.

The survey covers 351 employee respondents occupying ten green office buildings (Green Star-rated in accordance to Green Building Council Australia) and 159 employee respondents occupying eleven non-green office buildings.

The findings from this study are clear: the human benefits of a green workplace are massive. Employees in green workplace environments consider themselves to be happier and healthier than employees in non-green workplace environments. The large sample of office space users provides empirical evidence of what sets green workplaces apart from non-green, and provides a good reference point for similar studies in the future, leading to the establishment of clearer, more useful benchmarks of green building occupier satisfaction and health.

The findings from this study are useful for green building industry practitioners, business managers, occupants and health professionals and will deepen their understanding of the green workplace environment and its impact on employees.