Peter Busby, managing director of Perkins+Will, an award-winning sustainable architectural firm, discusses green building in a Forbes.com video. In the video, Busby discusses the seven keys to green building:

I was intrigued by the fact that Busby including a comfortable work environment in his list. This ties back in to my post from earlier today, Working in a green building feels good. Employees feel better about working in a green building and have been shown to be more productive than their counterparts in a typical office setting.

 

According to Busby, “Between 50 percent and 90 percent of operational costs for a business are employee salaries, so designing a pleasing, comfortable work environment is important. It can aid in reducing absenteeism, increasing employee morale, and attracting and retaining staff.” Source: Forbes

 

I’ve actually seen the importance of human comfort being mentioned more frequently among green building news pieces. I think as more companies are “buying in” to the importance of building green, they are beginning to realize that the benefits go behind the environment and really do affect the company’s bottom line.