Green Buildings and Health

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Building Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Green building standards promote environmental sustainability through reduced energy and water use.
• A key, yet less recognized, aspect of green buildings is their potential to improve human health via indoor environments.
• While environmental benefits are documented, human health impacts are under investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing evidence on green building design's impact on indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and human health.
• To assess the current state of research linking green buildings to occupant well-being.
• To identify research gaps and propose future directions for studying building health impacts.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of scientific literature on green building design and health outcomes.
• Analysis of studies comparing IEQ and health in green versus non-green buildings.
• Development of a framework for Health Performance Indicators (HPIs).

Main Results:

• Initial evidence suggests green buildings offer superior IEQ compared to conventional buildings.
• Occupants of green buildings may experience direct human health benefits.
• Current research often relies on indirect, subjective, and lagging health measures.

Conclusions:

• Green buildings demonstrate potential for improved indoor environments and occupant health.
• There is a need to move beyond indirect health measures.
• Proposed Health Performance Indicators offer a path toward objective, leading assessments in future studies.