Air and well being - a way to more profitability

摘要

Until recently the quality of air not play a major role in the planning of buildings. Quality of air was simply understood to be synonymous with pollution-free and safe air. This process omitted consideration of how to achieve the well-being of the occupants. The economic consequences of this limited approach were not apparent to investors, developers and tenants. More recently however, competition and market conditions in the commercial property market has led some investors to seek a new way forward. They have found their answer in performance-based buildings. These buildings go well beyond traditional methods of addressing the well being of building occupants, resulting in enhanced productivity, reduced absenteeism and reduced health risks. Physiological and neurophysiological research shows that air quality, encompassing both olfactory and thermal comfort, plays an important role. The elimination of pollutants is far from being sufficient and does not significantly reduce the dissatisfaction rate of building occupants. Today, research is focused on the occupants' perception of indoor air with the goal of increasing their satisfaction rate. It is known that people's well being improves when the air around them is perceived as natural and fresh. This can only be the case if sufficient stimulating positive olfactory substances are found in the indoor air. It is therefore important that the hedonic value of indoor air always be taken into consideration when measuring air quality. To create an indoor environment that increases the well being and performance of occupants, thermal and olfactory comfort have to complement one another. The performance-based buildings addresses the well being of the building users in order to realize a significant increase in a building's value.