Earth Day, Every Day

Terri Wills, World Green Building Council from Shaw Industries on Vimeo.

Terri Wills, Chief Executive Officer of The World Green Building Council, sat down with Shaw to discuss how green buildings impact health and wellbeing thus increasing productivity.
 
“We (The World Green Building Council) are particularly focused on the intersection of the environmental attributes and health and wellbeing.  We launched this project called Better Places for People where we’re really trying to grow the evidence base by looking at those environmental attributes and how they’re having a positive effect on people.  We’ve been so focused on energy for the last while but you realize that operating costs, 90% of the average company’s operating cost is people, right? So if you have people that are sick, people that are unmotivated, people that aren’t functioning well, you’re not doing well as a business.
 
People are so positively impacted by green buildings, and it’s been an amazing study that one of our corporate advisory board members, United Technologies, have done on the effects of increased CO2 on cognitive performance.  And the results were crazy. Cognitive performance is incredibly higher if you’re in a building with improved air circulation.  Access to biophilia -- nature in a building, greenery – is important.  If you’re able to have a view of nature, even for short periods per day you’re cognitive performance is increased.”
 
Shaw is proud to be a member of the World Green Building Council – Corporate Advisory Board. This Earth Day – and every day – we’re reflecting on 8 features that make healthier and greener offices.