Melina Forooraghi, Elke Miedema, Nina Ryd and Holger Wallbaum
This paper aims to explore the literature on office design approaches (ODAs) in relation to employee health. The overall goal is to facilitate the practical use and theoretical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the literature on office design approaches (ODAs) in relation to employee health. The overall goal is to facilitate the practical use and theoretical development of design approaches to healthy offices.
Design/methodology/approach
A scoping review of 7,432 papers collected from 4 electronic databases and 5 scientific journals resulted in the selection of 18 papers for content analysis.
Findings
Various ODAs relating to building design features and health were identified. The findings highlight challenges for this emergent field, including a paucity of literature on ODAs, a lack of definitions of health and healthy offices, ambiguous design strategies and a lack of a holistic ODA.
Originality/value
ODAs are potentially valuable resources but an under-considered topic for healthy office development. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first scoping review to map and compare different design approaches in the context of office design and its main contribution is in encouraging researchers and practitioners to bring a salutogenic and holistic perspective to their design approaches.
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Keywords
Annika Feige, Holger Wallbaum, Marcel Janser and Lukas Windlinger
The purpose of this paper is to research the impact of sustainable office buildings on occupant's comfort and self‐assessed performance and work engagement.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to research the impact of sustainable office buildings on occupant's comfort and self‐assessed performance and work engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
The research consists in an empirical study of 18 office buildings and is based on survey data from almost 1,500 employees.
Findings
The study shows that the building itself has a clear impact on the comfort level of the building user. Also, the positive impact of certain features, such as operable windows and the absence of air conditioning, can be clearly identified. While productivity is not directly correlated to comfort levels, work engagement is. Generally, the analysis shows that specific building aspects seem to have an influence on user comfort and with that, also an impact on productivity; however, this impact appears to be limited.
Originality/value
This is a very important insight since this shows the connection between employee and company and thus demonstrates that a high user comfort can reduce the turnover rate of employees. Therefore, additional planning towards user comfort and social sustainability can be shown to yield real returns.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the topic of sustainable construction and provide an adequate discussion of the current thinking. Achieving a balance between economic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the topic of sustainable construction and provide an adequate discussion of the current thinking. Achieving a balance between economic, social and ecological aims is a challenge. Managing and implementing sustainability requires the commitment of all stakeholders and new ways of working, thinking and learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology of this study consists of a literature review in the research field of sustainable construction and its associated impacts upon the climate, waste production and energy, materials and water usage. The aim is not to provide an in-depth, detailed analysis of specific processes and cases in the construction sector, but to present the need for rethinking sustainable construction in comprehensive terms.
Findings
The paper provides insights about the importance of sustainable construction. It suggests that all stakeholders at all stages should commit to sustainability to enable change in perception to start with.
Research limitations/implications
Further investigation on methods and techniques and interviews to construction companies will suggest a consistent framework for implementation “real-time”.
Practical implications
The paper highlights the importance of a coordinated supply chain action in the construction sector and emphasizes the need for construction companies to train and invest in resource- efficient building methods and practices. This will manage the balance between stability and change.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates the need to study further how resources efficiency can be adopted in the construction sector to further enable sustainability.