Worker productivity can be influenced by a lot of factors, including the air quality within the workplace, according to a new study.

One of the study’s most telling statistics is that workers who spent days in “green” building conditions performed 61 percent higher on cognitive assessments compared to those in traditional building settings. The researchers, who are from Harvard, SUNY Upstate Medical School and Syracuse University, defined green building conditions by higher rates of ventilation and reduced volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Researchers found that cognitive function was improved in the green building conditions across nine different categories. The three factors researchers used to measure indoor air quality included ventilation rate, levels of carbon dioxide and VOCs.

The team found a significant increase in cognitive function scores when people spent a full day in a green building compared to a conventional building with elevated VOC concentrations, according to the paper, which was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

“We spend 90 percent of our time indoors and 90 percent of the cost of a building are the occupants, yet indoor environmental quality and its impact on health and productivity are often an afterthought,” lead author Joseph Allen told the Harvard Crimson.

Facility managers can get closer to green status by integrating commercial-grade air purifiers, which remove 99.9 percent of airborne contaminants including dust, VOCs, allergens and viruses.

AeraMax Professional is specifically designed for common areas such as offices, classrooms and shared residential facilities, where it can reduce VOCs, improve productivity and provide healthier and cleaner environments for the areas where workers spend hours each day.

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