The stale air in your office building is affecting your performance

The stale air in your bro building is affecting your performanceThe stale air in your geschftszimmer building is affecting your performanceDear Reader, I write this story on top of and next to indoor chemical contaminants that are slowly killing office workers across America.These killers are commonly known as a carpet, a copy machine or a dry erase board. All three killers surround my desk And probably yours Take a deep breath.New research has confirmed that stale office air and chemical contaminants are hurting workershealth. Now, try breathing that out.Good air makes you better at your jobThis is what the Harvard Business Review concluded in its March article on how office air quality could affect workers cognitive performance. They found that all other factors being equal with workers s of VOCs can be as innocuous as a dry erase marker, dry cleaned clothes, carpeting and copy machines.Chronic exposure to VOCs has been linked to more serious sicknesses like cancer and liver damage .At the end of each day, the researchers would give the workers a cognitive test to test the link between air quality and how well people worked.They found that increasing air quality was most helpful to improving areas that tested how workers used information to make strategic decisions and how they plan, stay prepared, and strategize during crises.No wonder the happiest people are those who spend four workdays a week outside the office.Sick building syndromeTheres a medical condition for this sick building syndrome.It refers to a situation where you notice that your comfort and health is linked to the time spent in a building.Have you noticed that its literally easier for you to breathe when youre outside the office? Do persistent headaches with no specific cause go away once you leave your desk? Thats not just stress. You may be experiencing SBS.Worse its pretty common.A 1984 World Health Organization Committee report foundthat up to 30% of new buildings could be causing this, us ually due to buildings being operated in a different way than their original design intended. In the 1970s, U.S. buildings were made increasingly airtight to improve energy efficiency. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of our health.Mood, mental function and good airNumerous studieshavefoundlinks between clean air and health and mental benefits. In Chicago, one researcher found that installing a ventilation system up to federal standards in 81 low-income houses made a significant impact in those households. Children were breathing easier and adults had less psychological distress. In a separate test, the researchers in the HBR article compared workers in green certification buildings with workers in non-certified buildings across 10 U.S. buildings. Workers in green certified buildings were generally more satisfied with their office air. They were less likely to report that their office wastoo hot or too cold, or the their indoor air was too dry or too humid. Workers in green cert ified,comfortable indoorconditionswould also perform better on decision-making tests.With all the benefits to clean air, the HBR researchers suggest that we should rethink clean air as a human resource tool. So next time, youre interviewing for a job, after you ask about vacation time and benefits, ask about what your employer is doing to improve office air quality.