Blogs | World Green Building Council

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Wake up, air ranger! How citizens can catalyse government action on air pollution

Wed, 12th Jun 2019

Dutch Green Building Council's Jan Kadijk outlines how citizen 'air rangers' can take action on air pollution by measuring their local air quality, prompting governments to enact policies to tackle air quality - and the opportunity this presents for Green Building Councils.

Does your Indoor Air #SparkJoy?

Thu, 23rd May 2019

MANN + HUMMEL's Joelle Chen argues how by taking a data-driven approach to healthy buildings and measuring our indoor air quality, we can find out the nutritional value of our air - and take simple, practical steps to improve it.

Clearing the Air: How Beijing is building up to better air quality

Wed, 15th May 2019

With air pollution in Beijing a longtime and well documented environmental and health crisis, Mr Wang Qingqin of China Academy of Building Research (CABR) details some of the improvements to ambient (outdoor) air quality in Beijing, and the impact of these improvements on indoor environmental quality.

Workplace transformation: How Polish GBC is inspiring a nation of green & healthy offices

Thu, 9th Aug 2018

Polish GBC’s latest research proves the indisputable link between buildings and their users’ health, productivity and wellbeing, helping strengthen the business case for green and healthy offices - and Poland is now listening, blogs Alicja Kuczera.

A Green & Healthy Retrofit – India’s Platinum Case Study

Mon, 16th Jul 2018

India’s Paharpur Business Centre offers a refreshing new flavour to the health and wellbeing industry. It’s an internationally relevant example of healthy, resource efficient design that is operating in an existing building and certified with a methodology developed for the local culture, blogs WorldGBC's Catriona Brady.

Make Us Greener: A Sustainable Relocation Collaboration

Thu, 1st Mar 2018

Roberto Forte blogs about how Panama GBC's green office renovation collaboration project has helped improve the building's energy efficiency, reduce operating costs and improve occupants' health and wellbeing.

The nexus of green buildings, global health & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Tue, 5th Dec 2017

In the final of our Better Places for People blog series, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health's Joseph Allen and Augusta Williams discuss the role green buildings must play in promoting public health and sustainable development.

Building for body clocks: How human-centric lighting can improve people’s wellbeing & performance

Wed, 8th Nov 2017

In the latest in our Better Places for People blog series, Harry Verhaar of Philips Lighting looks at the need to focus not on daylighting or artificial lighting, but on “human-centric” lighting.

Wellbeing: Quality not quantity

Wed, 18th Oct 2017

In the latest in our Better Places for People blog series, Henry Pelly at Max Fordham discusses how designers need to think about optimising intangible and qualitatively measured wellbeing objectives.

Air quality in green buildings: Re-imagining the balance between ventilation & carbon emissions

Wed, 11th Oct 2017

Our blog series on the tensions and compatibilities between reducing carbon emissions and improving health and wellbeing in buildings continues with Jenn McArthur from Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

Comfortably compatible: Building features that reduce carbon & promote wellbeing

Wed, 4th Oct 2017

In the fourth article in our series of blogs on the potential tensions between reducing carbon and promoting wellbeing, WorldGBC looks at building features where compatibilities exist.

Inside & out: Can improvements in indoor air quality also achieve carbon goals?

Wed, 20th Sep 2017

In the third article in our series of blogs on the potential tensions between reducing carbon emissions and health and wellbeing, WorldGBC explores indoor air quality (IAQ) in buildings.

(Day)Lighting the way to greener and healthier buildings

Wed, 13th Sep 2017

In the second article in our series of blogs on the potential tensions between reducing carbon emissions and health and wellbeing, WorldGBC explores daylighting and artificial lighting in buildings.

People versus planet: Is there ever a trade-off in green building design?

Wed, 6th Sep 2017

In the first of a new series of blogs from our Better Places for People campaign, WorldGBC explores whether healthy building strategies sometimes compromise on carbon emissions savings.

Better Places for People in India: Our research shows green buildings support healthier, happier lives

Thu, 6th Jul 2017

IGBC's report 'Impact of Green Buildings on Occupants Wellbeing' demonstrates benefits of green buildings on occupants' health and happiness

Is your home or office impacting your mental wellbeing? Let’s talk

Fri, 7th Apr 2017

Today is World Health Day and the theme for this year’s campaign is ‘Depression: Let’s talk’. You might be thinking “what does this have to do with buildings?”...

Better thinking, better health in green-certified buildings

Mon, 31st Oct 2016

By 2050 nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities. This means more buildings will be needed, and buildings already consume 40% of global energy. Clearly, the future of buildings and the future of sustainability go hand in hand.

Philips' report advocates Better Places for People

Tue, 27th Sep 2016

Philips, a founding member of the WorldGBC’s Corporate Advisory Board, has announced ambitious new targets for international lighting standards that will inherently lead to greener and healthier offices.

Active House – Green AND healthy

Wed, 21st Sep 2016

With the release of new reports on residential health and wellbeing in 2016, such as the VELUX Healthy Homes Barometer and the UKGBC Healthy Homes Report...

How can we make offices more comfortable?

Tue, 30th Aug 2016

At Better Places for People, we’ve talked a lot about how thermal comfort is a very important factor for an occupant’s health and wellbeing...

Better places for a better bottom line

Tue, 23rd Aug 2016

In the WorldGBC’s 2014 Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices report, we provided the evidence that strongly links office environments and productivity in the workplace...

Health, wellbeing and productivity – What we’re doing in the UK

Tue, 16th Aug 2016

We at UK-GBC are very keen participants of WorldGBC’s Better Places for People campaign. It seems to us that good health and wellbeing...

Green buildings and healthy buildings

Tue, 9th Aug 2016

While the Better Places for People campaign often gets associated with healthy buildings, our mandate, as a WorldGBC global campaign, is to raise awareness of green healthy buildings...

Healthy retail places are a quick-win for retailers

Tue, 2nd Aug 2016

So far in WorldGBC’s Better Places for People campaign, we’ve examined three building typologies: offices, retail and now over the next six months, residential...

Building the business case for healthy residential buildings

Tue, 26th Jul 2016

With the recent release of the UKGBC report entitled Health and Wellbeing in Homes, we saw a much needed examination of the different aspects that make up healthy homes and communities.

Living near trees can make you feel younger and richer

Tue, 19th Jul 2016

We have known for a while that trees provide many valuable services, like air filtration, carbon dioxide absorption, and also making people feel less stressed...

Healthy building: Evolving green building tech with B+H’s Lisa Bate

Tue, 12th Jul 2016

When B+H Architects’ Lisa Bate arrived in Shanghai in 2012, the Toronto architect set out to help improve the green standards of the Chinese development industry.

Air quality testing in your home

Wed, 29th Jun 2016

This month, the WorldGBC kicks off work on the third Better Places for People campaign report, this time focused on residential buildings...

Creating great living places

Thu, 2nd Jun 2016

At Saint-Gobain, we have always been passionate about buildings and buildings materials. We believe that buildings and more broadly living places can make a huge difference to people’s lives and to the planet as a whole.

The why and the how

Mon, 30th May 2016

Since the launch of the Better Places for People Office and Retail reports, our national green building councils have been hard at work getting their members to understand the “why” and “how” of healthy buildings.

Humanising the workplace

Wed, 20th Apr 2016

A workplace should help you be your very best. Yet all too many offices, factories and laboratories overlook vital human factors that affect employee wellness and impact organisations.

Indoor Air Quality and its Impact on Cognitive Functions

Sun, 20th Mar 2016

A landmark report published in the fall by Harvard’s School of Public Health’s Center for Health and the Global Environment in conjunction with SUNY Update Medical University and Syracuse University...

Health, wellbeing & the business case for green retail

Tue, 1st Mar 2016

Napoleon was supposed to have called us “a nation of shopkeepers”. I imagine it wasn’t meant favourably, but 200 years on and retail accounts for 10% of employment, over 5% of GDP and apparently London is the “retail capital of the world” (according to BIS).

Could greener stores improve the customer experience and lead to increased profit?

Fri, 5th Feb 2016

Imagine if the supermarket you shopped in made you feel healthier or happier? If the assistants packing your groceries were more productive because the space they worked in had particularly good air quality and daylight?

A world of wellbeing at our fingertips

Wed, 20th Jan 2016

Early findings from a recent study show that our Head Office refurbishment is making people feel happier, healthier and more productive. This is good news for our radical programme to promote wellbeing and productivity across our portfolio.

Better and better

Mon, 9th Nov 2015

It’s no coincidence that the word ‘better’ features in two of the World Green Building Council’s current and high profile campaigns.

Wellbeing and energy efficiency at the heart of SUSTAINABLE buildings

Thu, 1st Oct 2015

COP21 is coming soon, and those who care about safeguarding future generations are advocating for a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions to limit global warming and its potentially disastrous consequences.

Finding the feel-good factor

Mon, 21st Sep 2015

Nobody likes being in a building that is too hot or too cold, too stuffy or draughty, dark or bright. People are uncomfortable in such places, unlikely to revisit them and often unproductive there. By contrast, common sense tells us better places are better for us.

Putting people at the heart of property – Are we at a tipping point?

Thu, 17th Sep 2015

This year, the discussions around health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace feel very exciting, they’ve stepped up a gear and are motivating lots of real activity and changes to long-standing practices.

Count Your Change: The WorldGBC Retail Metrics Framework

Thu, 10th Sep 2015

The WorldGBC is currently developing and piloting a Retail Metrics Framework based on the Metrics Framework in last year’s landmark Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices report.