6.6.3 Improved productivity

There is increasing evidence that well-designed, energy efficient buildings often have the co-benefits of improving occupant productivity and health (Leaman and Bordass, 1999; Fisk, 2000; Fisk, 2002). Assessing these productivity gains is difficult (CIBSE (The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers), 1999) but in a study of 16 buildings in the UK, occupants estimated that their productivity was influenced by the environment by between –10% and +11% (Leaman and Bordass, 1999).

The implementation of new technologies for GHG emissions mitigation achieves substantial learning and economies of scale, resulting in cost reductions. Jacob and Madlener (2004) analyzed the technological progress and marginal cost developments for energy efficiency measures related to the building envelope using data for the time period 1975 to 2001 in Switzerland. The analysis yields technical progress factors of around 3% per annum for wall insulation and 3.3% per annum for double glazing windows, while real prices decreases of 0.6% since 1985 for facades and 25% over the last 30 years for double glazing windows (Jacob and Madlener, 2004).