4. Influence of Office Space on Employee Health and Comfort
Newsham et al. (2004) conducted an empirical study of the effect of office workers having individual control over light levels on their satisfaction, mood, comfort and self-assessed productivity. They found positive benefits from this allocation of control.
Fisk (2000) reports moderate to strong evidence that characteristics of buildings and indoor environments significantly influence rates of communicable respiratory illness, allergy and asthma symptoms, sick building symptoms, and worker performance. These translate into estimated cost savings to U.S. employers together of between US$1 billion and US$30 billion in lost worker time, per disease.