Business

Can an office building make you healthier and more productive?

So-called well buildings include features such as indirect circadian lighting systems (to mimic the path of the sun), glare reduction elements, natural building materials, healthier snacks, sit/stand desks, and “borrowed” light - openings in otherwise solid surfaces such as walls that allow light to come through. IMAGE: TSOI/KOBUS & ASSOCIATES

By The Boston Globe

Less than a minute to read

When the engineering and consulting firm Arup recently moved into its new offices on the 10th floor at 60 State Street in downtown Boston, principal Mark Walsh-Cooke soon noticed that something was missing: the sickly smells of carpet, paint, and furniture that normally permeate a new office building.

That’s because Arup is aiming to become the first space in New England to be officially certified as a healthy building, part of a growing movement that looks beyond the efficiency of facilities to the well-being of the people inside them.

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