The vast majority of workers believe the quality of air they breathe at work has a direct impact on their health and wellbeing, according to a poll.
Building technologies’ company Honeywell surveyed 2,500 workers in buildings of 500-plus workers in Germany, India, the Middle East, the UK and the US to gauge the impact of buildings on both occupant wellbeing and the wider environment.
The role of air, air quality and air circulation, and its links to health and wellbeing, has become a much more important topic in the context of workplace health since the pandemic, given the fact that Covid-19 is an airborne virus.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of the UK office workers surveyed said they were extremely or very worried about their office’s indoor air quality, a 14% increase from Honeywell’s 2022 Healthy Buildings survey.
Additionally, eight in 10 (82%) said their expectations for improved indoor air quality in their workplace had increased in the past three years, in other during the period of the pandemic.
Nearly half (49%) wanted their employer to prioritise both better indoor air quality in their building, as well as reducing their building’s carbon footprint.
The findings suggest that office employees are becoming increasingly aware of their work environment and its effect on their overall wellbeing and productivity, and the environmental impact of the building itself, said Honeywell.
“These findings suggest that surveyed UK office workers care not only about their building’s IAQ (indoor air quality) but also about the carbon emissions that the building may emit,” said Manish Sharma, vice president and general manager of sustainable buildings at Honeywell.
