你的辦公環境夠健康嗎?大綱

For decades, many developers and architects worked to ensure that their buildings were kind to the planet. Now, their focus is on the effect that buildings have on the people who work in them.

數十年來，許多開發商和建築師都努力確保他們的建築是對這個星球友好的。如今，他們將重心放在了建築對在其中工作的人的影響上。

Studies show that healthy workers tend to be more productive, a concept that is behind a growing trend in real estate to create offices with measurable wellness benefits. One frequently cited Harvard study showed that improving air quality caused mental cognition to soar.

研究顯示，健康的員工工作效率更高，這個概念支撐着房地產行業一個日益增長的趨勢，即打造健康福祉可以計量的辦公室。一項經常被引用的哈佛大學研究表明，空氣質量的改善可以帶來心理認知能力的極大提高。

New certification programs have sprung up to guide the way, including the Well Building Standard, introduced by the development company Delos in 2014 and based on medical research that shows how our surroundings affect our health.

新的認證項目如雨後春筍般冒了出來，爲這股趨勢指路，其中包括Well建築標準(Well Building Standard)。它由房地產及科技公司迪洛斯(Delos)於2014年推出。該系統以顯示我們的周遭環境如何影響人體健康的醫學研究爲基礎。

Delos’s new headquarters, on the fourth and fifth floors of a 10-story tower in Manhattan, were designed by the architecture firm Gensler. The 19,000-square-foot office space houses 70 employees and serves as a showplace for the Well standard.

迪洛斯的新總部位於曼哈頓一幢十層大樓的四層和五層，由晉思建築師事務所(Gensler)設計。這個佔地1.9萬平方英尺（約合1765平方米）的辦公空間能容納70名員工，是Well建築標準的樣板間。

In the reception area, where a tour of the office was about to begin on a recent afternoon, the air quality was good. There was proof: A digital display measuring about 6? feet by 12 feet covering one wall showed the indoor temperature, the humidity level, and other measurements of cleanliness and comfort with data supplied by sensors throughout the office.

近期的一個下午，對這個辦公室的參觀從接待處開始，空氣感覺清新。這是有證據的：一個佔滿一面牆，約6.5英尺（約合2米）高、12英尺寬（約合3.7米）的電子屏幕顯示着室內溫度、溼度及其他潔淨及舒適度的測定數值，這些數據由辦公室各處放置的感應器提供。

“We have 51 sensors, which is extreme overkill,” said Janna Wandzilak, a Delos director, who was leading our tour.

“我們裝了51個感應器，非常多，”帶領我們參觀的迪洛斯主管詹娜·旺茲拉克(Janna Wandzilak)說。

Triple-filtered air whooshes in from floor vents, while ceiling ducts suck out carbon dioxide-filled air. Plants cascading from walls and partitions also help clean the air while satisfying our innate need to connect to nature, a concept known as biophilia.

經過三層過濾的空氣呼呼地從地板上的通風口噴出，與此同時，天花板上的通風管道將充滿二氧化碳的空氣吸走。爬滿牆壁和隔牆的植物也有助於清潔空氣，同時還能滿足我們與生俱來的與大自然親近的需求，這就是所謂的“熱愛生命的天性”。

Standing desks are everywhere, and a wide oak staircase stretches between the lower and upper floors, encouraging staff to walk up and down rather than take the elevator — all contributing to fitness.

站立式辦公桌隨處可見，一個寬敞的橡木樓梯連接上下兩層樓，鼓勵員工上下走動，而不是乘坐電梯——這些都有助於健身。

“I definitely find myself sitting less,” Paul Scialla, Delos’s chief executive, said in an interview in his office, which was decorated with framed photos. One showed him with the wellness guru Deepak Chopra, a member of the Delos advisory board.

“我發現自己確實坐的時候變少了，”迪洛斯的首席執行官保羅·夏拉(Paul Scialla)在自己的辦公室接受採訪時說，這裏到處都是用相框鑲嵌起來的照片。其中一張是他與健康專家狄巴克·喬布拉(Deepak Chopra)的合影，後者也是迪洛斯諮詢委員會的成員。

After 18 years trading bonds on Wall Street, Mr. Scialla founded the company in 2014, having identified an untapped market at the intersection of real estate and the booming wellness movement.

在華爾街從事債券交易18年後，夏拉於2014年創辦了這家公司，在房地產和蓬勃發展的健康運動交叉地帶，他發現了一個尚未開發的市場。

The Well system has criteria in seven categories that promote the health of a building’s occupants, including nourishment — which explains the almond butter, the whole-grain bread and the organic apples in the Delos cafe. The other categories are air, comfort, fitness, light, mind and water.

Well標準體系分爲七大類標準，它們旨在提升一幢大樓內人員的健康，包括營養——這解釋了迪洛斯咖啡館中的杏仁醬、全麥麪包及有機蘋果。其他幾大類分別爲空氣、舒適度、健身、光、精神和水。

A 282-page manual explains the standard, which is administered by the International Well Building Institute, a public benefit corporation spun off from Delos. The third-party certification is done by Green Business Certification — which also certifies Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, projects — and involves in-office auditing and laboratory analysis of water and air samples.

一個282頁篇幅的冊子解釋了這些由國際WELL建築研究院(International Well Building Institute)管理的標準，這家研究院是迪洛斯衍生出來的一家公益企業。第三方認證則由綠色事業認證(Green Business Certification)進行——該機構還對能源與環境先導設計（Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design，簡稱LEED）項目進行認證——包括對水和空氣樣本的上門審覈及實驗室分析。

According to Delos, 954 projects in 35 countries are registered for Well, certified or precertified; 327 of them are in the United States, including 24 in New York. The vast majority of projects are offices. Not surprisingly, the Delos headquarters achieved the most demanding level of certification, platinum.

根據迪洛斯的數據，35個國家的954個項目已經註冊了WELL，有些經過了認證，有些受到了預先認證；其中有327個項目在美國，紐約有24個。這些項目中有一大部分都是辦公室。毫無意外，迪洛斯的總部達到了要求最高的認證標準——白金級。

The workplaces are designed to coax people to change their behavior. Stairs are placed front and center, for instance, to encourage their use.

工作場合的設計是爲了引導人們改變自己的行爲。比如，爲了鼓勵人們多加利用，樓梯放在了前方和中間的位置。

But occupants benefit simply from being in an office that has been designed to optimize their health. For instance, the circadian lighting that changes throughout the day, keeping pace with the brightening and dimming of sunlight, has been shown to improve sleeping at night.

但在一個以促進健康爲設計宗旨的辦公室裏，僅僅是身在其中就能獲益了。例如，以24小時爲週期的照明會在一天內不斷變化，與日光的增強和轉暗保持同步，這一舉措已經被證明能夠改善人們在晚間的睡眠質量。

“If we can engineer the box we spend 90 percent of our lives in to deliver health care automatically, that’s a very big impact,” Mr. Scialla said.

夏拉說：“如果我們能設計出一個盒子，我們90%的生命都在它裏面度過，而它會自動提供醫療保健，那將會產生非常大的影響。”

Other standards have been created for health and wellness. Fitwel, for instance, offers a certification program with similar goals but a different origin and methods.

已經出現了爲保健和健康制定的其他標準。例如，Fitwel提供了一個目標相似但來源和方法不同的認證項目。

Developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fitwel is based primarily on public health data and promotes strategies shown to have the greatest effect on health.

由疾病控制和預防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)開發的Fitwel主要基於公共衛生數據，並推廣已經對健康顯示出最大影響的戰略。

After testing the system on workplaces of the General Services Administration, the C.D.C. contracted with the Center for Active Design, a nonprofit organization in New York, to administer the program and apply it more broadly.

在對總務管理局(General Services Administration)辦公室的系統進行測試後，疾病控制和預防中心與紐約的一個非營利組織積極設計中心(Center for Active Design)簽訂了合同，以管理並更廣泛地應用該項目。

Started last year, Fitwel is essentially a do-it-yourself web-based checklist and scoring system. A building owner or manager enters information about a facility and submits photographic evidence.

從去年開始的Fitwel基本上是一個自己動手的在線清單和評分系統。一棟建築的所有者或管理者輸入有關一個設施的信息並提交照片證據。

“It was designed to be so simple that you can walk around a building with a tablet and check on a checklist and take photos with the tablet and upload them,” said Liz York, the C.D.C.’s chief sustainability officer. “At the end, you click a button.”

“它的設計非常簡單，你可以帶着平板電腦在一座建築裏走動，查看清單，用平板電腦拍照並上傳，”疾病控制和預防中心首席可持續發展官利茲·約克(Liz York)說。“到最後，點擊一個按鈕。”

Reviewers process the information and give the user a score as well as a to-do list to improve office conditions.

審閱者會處理這些信息，給用戶一個評分和一張待辦事項清單，以改善辦公條件。

Some companies, such as the commercial real estate firm Tishman Speyer, which has a seat on Fitwel’s advisory board, are applying the program across their portfolio of buildings.

包括商業房地產公司鐵獅門(Tishman Speyer)在內的一些公司是Fitwel的顧問委員會成員，這些公司正在它們進行的開發項目中應用它。

“You can use Fitwel in an individual building, but we want to support massive users,” said Joanna Frank, president and chief executive of the Center for Active Design. “We’re looking at large-scale market transformation.”

“你可以在一棟單獨的建築中使用Fitwel，但是我們希望支持大量用戶，”積極設計中心(Center for Active Design)總裁兼首席執行官喬安娜·弗蘭克(Joanna Frank)說。“我們正在考慮大規模市場轉型。”

Certification for Fitwel costs far less than that for Well.

Fitwel的認證費用遠遠低於Well。

The Well program costs $1,800 to $4,200 to register, depending on square footage, and $7,500 to $131,250 to certify. This does not account for the financial outlay to apply the health-promoting features required to achieve certification.

Well項目的註冊費用爲1800至4200美元，認證費用爲7500至131250美元，具體視面積而定。這不包括爲了把促進健康功能投入應用以獲得認證所需的開支。

Furthermore, recertification every three years is recommended, to ensure that offices continue to be healthy places.

此外還建議每三年重新認證一次，以確保辦公室繼續成爲能促進健康的環境。

Fitwel charges $500 to register and $6,000 to certify. And the financial outlay required to meet some recommendations can be quite modest. One recommendation might be to put up signs directing employees to the stairs to encourage their use; another might be to set aside a lactation room or a station for nursing mothers.

Fitwel收取500美元註冊費和6000美元認證費。滿足一些建議所需要的經費支出可能相當有限。一個建議可能是豎立通向樓梯的標誌，鼓勵員工走樓梯；另一種可能是爲哺乳的母親留出哺乳室或工位。

Even after attaining Fitwel certification, building managers can work to increase scores — and enhance interiors — by making additional investments as their budgets allow.

即使在獲得Fitwel的認證後，建築管理者也還可以通過在預算允許的情況下進行額外投資來提高分數，並改善內部裝修。

The expected improvements in employee wellness from either program can result in productivity gains, including lower health care costs, lower rates of absenteeism and increased revenue from better employee performance.

這兩個項目對員工健康的預期改善可以提高生產率，包括降低醫療保健成本、缺勤率以及提高員工績效帶來的收入。

The American Society of Interior Designers said it had achieved a 16 percent productivity gain after moving into its Well-certified headquarters in Washington two years ago. The organization, which spent about $2 million outfitting the space, tracked the impact of the design and found increased engagement and reduced absenteeism, Randy W. Fiser, the chief executive, said.

美國室內設計師協會(The American Society of Interior Designers)稱，兩年前搬進得到了Well認證的華盛頓總部後，該協會的生產率提高了16%。首席執行官蘭迪·費瑟(Randy W. Fiser)說，該組織耗資約200萬美元爲辦公空間配備設備，跟蹤該設計的影響，並發現員工參與度有所提高，缺勤率有所降低。

Mr. Fiser, who is also a member of the Delos advisory board, said the organization added nearly $700,000 to its bottom line in its first year from the productivity increase as well as savings from energy costs.

費瑟也是迪洛斯顧問委員會的成員，他說，該組織在第一年因生產力的提高和能源成本的節約而增加了近70萬美元的淨利潤。

However, the desire to attract staff seems to be driving many companies to turn to programs that help them develop healthy offices, according to architects and designers who work with clients on such projects.

然而，據與客戶一起參與這些項目的建築師和設計師所稱，吸引員工的願望似乎正在促使許多公司轉向可以幫它們打造健康辦公環境的項目。

“In today’s economy, people can change jobs,” said Paula McEvoy, an architect and co-director of sustainable design for Perkins & Will, which last year completed two Well-certified projects and five Fitwel certifications. “They can choose their workplace.”

“在今天的經濟裏，人們可以換工作，”珀金斯威爾建築設計事務所(Perkins & Will)建築師兼可持續設計聯席總監寶拉·麥克沃伊(Paula McEvoy)說，該公司去年完成了兩個Well認證的項目和五個Fitwel認證。“他們可以選擇工作的場所。"

With the two certification systems doing essentially the same thing, some designers say there can be confusion over the programs.

由於兩個認證系統做的基本上是相同的事情，一些設計師可能會有些困惑。

But Ms. Frank of the Center for Active Design brushes that off.

但是積極設計中心的弗蘭克對此不以爲然。

“We believe there’s room in the marketplace for both certifications,” she said, adding that the existence of two programs might strengthen the healthy-office message.

“我們相信市場上有兩種認證系統共存的空間，”她說，並補充說，兩個項目的存在可能會加強健康辦公室存在意義的信息。

“The more people talking about promoting health in the workplace, the better,” she said.

她說：“越多人在談論促進工作場所的健康越好。”