Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity

by Joseph G. Allen, John D. Macomber

"This book should be essential reading for all who commission, design, manage, and use buildings--indeed anyone who is interested in a healthy environment."--Norman Foster

As businesses around the world consider when and how to reopen their doors to fight COVID-19, the Director of Harvard's Healthy Buildings Program and Harvard Business School's leading expert on urban resilience reveal what you can do to harness the power of your offices and homes to protect your health--and boost every aspect of your performance and well-being.

Ever feel tired during a meeting? That's because most conference rooms are not bringing in enough fresh air. When that door opens, it literally breathes life back into the room. But there is a lot more acting on your body that you can't feel or see. From our offices and homes to schools, hospitals, and restaurants, the indoor spaces where we work, learn, play, eat, and heal have an outsized impact on our performance and well-being. They affect our creativity, focus, and problem-solving ability and can make us sick--jeopardizing our future and dragging down profits in the process.

Charismatic pioneers of the healthy building movement who have paired up to combine the cutting-edge science of Harvard's School of Public Health with the financial know-how of the Harvard Business School, Joseph Allen and John Macomber make a compelling case in this urgently needed book for why every business and home owner should make certain relatively low-cost investments a top priority. Grounded in exposure and risk science and relevant to anyone newly concerned about how their surroundings impact their health, Healthy Buildings can help you evaluate the impact of small, easily controllable environmental fluctuations on your immediate well-being and long-term reproductive and lung health. It shows how our indoor environment can have a dramatic impact on a whole host of higher order cognitive functions--including things like concentration, strategic thinking, troubleshooting, and decision-making. Study after study has found that your performance will dramatically improve if you are working in optimal conditions (with high rates of ventilation, few damaging persistent chemicals, and optimal humidity, lighting and noise control). So what would it take to turn that knowledge into action?

Cutting through the jargon to explain complex processes in simple and compelling language, Allen and Macomber show how buildings can both expose you to and protect you from disease. They reveal the 9 Foundations of a Healthy Building, share insider tips, and show how tracking what they call "health performance indicators" with smart technology can boost a company's performance and create economic value. With decades of practice in protecting worker health, they offer a clear way forward right now, and show us what comes next in a post-COVID world. While the "green" building movement introduced important new efficiencies, it's time to look beyond the four walls--placing the decisions we make around buildings into the larger conversation around development and health, and prioritizing the most important and vulnerable asset of any building: its people.

Genres: Nonfiction, Architecture, Health, Design, Science, Urbanism, Business

304 pages, Hardcover

Published April 21, 2020

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Torn on this book. Much of the book felt like a book about Harvard by two guys that teach at Harvard and know some other people at Harvard and also read studies out of Harvard. It was kind of annoying.

Also there was an uncomfortable lack of acknowledgment of data privacy issues and concerns, which was made entertainingly evident by their imploring the reader to look at Google’s Sidewak Labs work in Toronto. Which probably looked very promising in 2020 when the book was published, but now in 2022 after the project was shut down and sidewalk labs is dissolving is telling.

All that said I did learn a lot from this book and appreciate it was written in an accessible (albeit sometimes annoying to this reader) way.

The 3/30/300% rule w/ utilities/rent/human capital was interesting along with their 9 foundations of a healthily building: Ventilation, air quality, thermal health, water quality, moisture, dust and pests, lighting and views, noise and safety and security.

A disproportionate # of pages focused on the first 3 of the above but was indicative of what warrants further study and advocacy.

[NC · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good news is that Healthy Buildings reads like an HBS bro-talk packaged into an academic monograph that you feel very little guilt DNF-ing. The bad news is that the information it provides is actually eye opening, especially if you are managing or building a house or an office, that you really need to keep going. I even took notes! Although you have to persevere (you can absolutely tell it was stretched from a paper), the book is ultimately worth it. The data on indoor air quality and productivity, among other reasons to pursue healthy buildings - that’s important stuff. I begrudgingly endorse.

[Peter Tillman]

Nature's short review, https://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...
"“We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us,” said Winston Churchill in 1943. This is even truer now; people in the United States spend 90% of their time indoors, note health scientist Joseph Allen and business-school lecturer John Macomber. Yet we read little about indoor air pollution. In 2018, the US secretary of education publicly rejected the idea of investing in school buildings rather than students — to the authors’ horror. Their detailed, important study is welcomed by architect Norman Foster. But it speaks to everyone."

[Iliana Yanes · Rating 2 out of 5]

felt like a salespitch to promote his family founded construction business; centered on the profit motivations for building managers

[Josh Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a little obvious that this book comes from academia. As someone who works in the built environment space, all I could think about for most of this book is how different my experiences are from those of the authors (not to discount their experiences!), and as a result how some of their projections don't really ring true to me.

As an example, early on the authors refer to a non-binding agreement between hundreds of CEOs that said that shareholder profits wouldn't be the top concern in the future. Okay, but how has that worked in practice? Talk is cheap.

Similarly, they refer to job-seekers asking about the health of the building they'd be working in. In theory, great! And there probably are a few examples of people doing this. But the health effects from the building you work in are gradual, long-term things for the most part (with notable exceptions being Legionnaire's Disease and other acute issues). People are *remarkably bad* at evaluating long term, gradual risk. If this is to be a game changer, you'd need to see action on the level of tens of millions of people switching to a vegan diet because it's healthier ... it's just not happening.

My experience may also be colored by the fact that I listened to the audiobook. The narrator is totally fine, but I'm not sure that this format of book is best consumed that way.

All that said, there's some interesting information here and the authors do make a great point about regulatory failure / capture and split incentives, and I like their idea of "monetizing" the health of a building in order to get owners / builders to follow recommendations.

I think indoor air quality / building health is a very underrated aspect of our lives and deserves further consideration, so I'm glad to see books like this out about it.

[Andy McNeil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes a compelling argument for the real estate industry to get on board or get left behind. Healthy buildings are already coming and non-healthy buildings will become difficult to lease. The writing style is conversational and presents challenging technical concepts in an approachable manner. I recommend anyone who builds, designs, finances, or manages buildings read this book.

[Carolina Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece, a book to keep on my bedside table! I started reading it last year, right after quiting my corporate job, and I just felt like shipping copies to my ex-colleagues over and over again, to re-state my point on how buildings that foster health are not just a nice to have, but the way forward when it comes to offering a distinct service that even happens to have so many collateral sustainable and economical benefits.

In the first chapters, the authors lay the foundations for what they consider healthy buildings, nine, that are approached in a practical matter and illustrated by deeply interesting case studies. Then, the last pages are what I would describe a collection of strong arguments, supported by data and sound studies, on how to advocate on the advantages of shifting towards construction that takes human health into consideration.

I did not just read this book: I moved back and forward, I took notes, I made lists of ideas that it sparked on me. This should be a mandatory read for all those that work with architecture, urban planning, urban policy and public health. I will probably offer it as a Christmas, birthday, farewell gift as I feel like such pivotal knowledge should definitly be shared!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this book for HR, facilities, people managers, builders, real estate professionals, and climate leaders. The authors make the case for "ROI of healthy buildings" to these audiences in particular...effectively, I think. Further, the book presents a structured dashboard for tracking the health of the building and describes how to resolve misaligned incentives between building owners vs occupants. I'm a climate professional who knows a lot about transportation, but less about buildings, so this book helped build my knowledge. The book was released in 2020, and at first I thought the text would be invalidated because the first few chapters talk about how employment centers are the heart of where everything happens; but in fact, the principles discussed in this book, eg healthy air and ventilation, in fact became even more salient and important to people after the book's publishing, so I expect more people will pick up the book...and hopefully also apply its recommendations.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It appalled me to realise that until now all of our buildings have been designed merely for profit without any thought of what is an acceptable environment for human beings to spend a great portion of their lives in. I guess I should have known but still.

Fascinating book though I did not understand all the calculations, of course, and I disliked the business management jargon and perspective.

I already knew I disliked property developers’ rapacious and exploitative destruction of land and wildlife but now I have a better insight into the bigger picture, and how the system works. And all this only applies to the United States, where there are at least some safety regulations. God help the rest of the us!

[Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me quite a long time to get through this, but I found it really fascinating. The target audience was absolutely the people who actually manage buildings, but I found it interesting and useful information for anyone who lives and works in a building. I’m very curious as to what the next decade or so brings us in the “healthy buildings” field.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an important read under the current circumstances. It will really make a parent think twice about sending the precious kids to school without a lot of attention is paid to the "health" of the building first!

[MercuryLiu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Helped me rethink where the healthcare industry can go and what I can do about my daily life given the insights in the book.
It is the kind of book with the fresh insights you rarely see.

[Hannes · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was way too much business planning and cost analysis and not enough on houses and people in them.

Seems like the author wanted to explain way too much some basic background that seemed obvious.

I would have liked more psychological insight when the basic material science is covered.

[Alex DeSpain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written with a target audience in mind (which includes myself). I wouldn't recommend this book for the general public, but if you are interested in how commercial buildings can affect your health (and your bottom line if you own/lease a building) this will be worth your time.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A critical read for anyone involved in the built environment. As Joe says, we need to focus on the 90%, the average percentage of life spent indoors.

[Jill Cordry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have used many fewer words for the info.

[db · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good resource book that explains the necessity of clean air.

[Ashley Jane Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book! A great resource for anyone considering WELL certification.

[Jsteedly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good perspective of the importance of creating a “healthy building” and the benefits it can have for the building owner, tenant, and occupants. It can be a win for everyone involved.

[M. Sarker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, but not very actionable in my opinion. Info and sensor evaluation from aqmd.gov is worth a look.

[Nicholas Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dry, but good information

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple but important message. Some of it was a lot more than I needed or wanted to know.