The Networked Health-Relevant Factors for Office Buildings: The Planned Health

233 Pages·2021·9.067 MB·English

by  Werner Seiferlein, Christine Kohlert

Werner Seiferlein
Christine Kohlert   Editors
The Networked
Health-Relevant
Factors for Office
Buildings
The Planned Health
Second Edition
fi
The Networked Health-Relevant Factors for Of ce
Buildings
Werner Seiferlein Christine Kohlert
(cid:129)
Editors
The Networked
Health-Relevant Factors
fi
for Of ce Buildings
The Planned Health
Second Edition
123
Editors
WernerSeiferlein Christine Kohlert
TIMTechnologie-Innovation-Management RBSGROUP partof Drees & Sommer
Frankfurt/Main, Germany Munich,Germany
ISBN978-3-030-59225-7 ISBN978-3-030-59226-4 (eBook)
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Translation from the German language edition: Die vernetzten gesundheitsrelevanten Faktoren für
BürogebäudebyWernerSeiferleinandChristineKohlert,©SpringerFachmedienWiesbadenGmbH,
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Foreword
What message does the architecture of our new office building convey? Does it
sufficiently represent the corporate philosophy? Does the refurbishment or reno-
vation of an existing property improve its functionality? Decision-makers in
companies are likely to be more driven by these and similar thoughts when plan-
ning their buildings than by the interaction of health-relevant factors and their
influence on corporate success. Correct is: The closely networked health-related
factors make a significant contribution to the success of a company. To a large
extent, they determine whether employees feel comfortable at their workplace, are
motivated and perform at their best.
The influences on health and well-being of employees are multifactorial: the
design of the workspaces, the materials used, the indoor climate, the lighting,
physical influences such as noise or psychological factors such as colours, contact
possibilitieswithcolleaguesand,lastbutnotleast,thefurnishingoftheworkplaces
themselves all plays a role. And this means that by far not all factors influencing
well-being and health in an office or administration building are covered, because
internal processes as well as team dynamics and management influences must also
be taken into account.
Thismakesitallthemoreimportantforvariousprofessionalstocontributetheir
expertise during the planning, furnishing and commissioning of a building. It is
only when these multifactorial influences are taken into account from a variety of
perspectives—includingtheperspectiveofthearchitect,occupationalsafetyexpert,
occupational physician, hygienist, occupational psychologist, industrial psycholo-
gist, organizational psychologist and occupational therapist. This is why TÜV
Rheinland specialists from various specialist areas work together and provide
interdisciplinaryadvicetoclients.Onlyinthiswayisaholisticviewofthebuilding
and its future users possible.
According to the statistics authority Eurostat, the average working life in
Germany in 2015 was around 38 years—many years in which employees spend a
large part of the day at work and are exposed to both positive and negative influ-
ences. If the factors that burden a building after it has been occupied, such as
increased levels of pollutants due to the evaporation of building materials or
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vi Foreword
inventory, predominate and are associated with unpleasant odours, the
air-conditioningsystembringsmorefrustrationthanpleasure.Andiftheemployees
feel impaired by a lack of privacy, too few opportunities for rest and breaks,
incorrect lighting, lack of ergonomics at the workplace or other environmental
factors,theperformanceofthepersonsconcerneddrops.Intheworstcase,illnesses
such as allergies, headaches, musculoskeletal disorders or psychological stress can
lead to an increase in sick leave or employee turnover. This is associated with a
well-known and widespread phenomenon in which a considerable number of
employees in new or renovated buildings complain about health problems, the
so-called sick building syndrome. The aforementioned factors not only have a
negative impact on the health of employees and the economic success of the
company,butalsoontheemployerbrandingeneral:thechancesofwinninghighly
sought-after high potentialsandwell-qualifiedmanagersaredeclining. Inaddition,
therearecostsfortheimprovementsinandaroundthebuildinginordertoeliminate
the negative effects on the health and well-being of the employees.
Thesearegoodreasonstoalreadyconsiderthenetworkedhealth-relevantfactors
in office buildings in the planning phase. This book provides a comprehensive
overview of the relevant influencing factors and bridges the gap to active imple-
mentation with the checklist.
Dr. Walter Dormagen
Business Unit Manager, Hazardous Substances,
Microbiology and Hygiene at TÜV Rhineland,
Cologne, Germany
Norbert Wieneke
Business Unit Manager, Health Management and
Occupational Safety at TÜV Rhineland,
Cologne, Germany
Preface
Inthebeginning,therewasthethesisintheroom“Healthinanofficebuildingcan
be planned”.
Justasaheatingsystem,forexample,canbedesignedonthebasisofexperience
and rules, so health can also be planned in an office building.
This book is the realization of an idea, an idea that grew out of the task of
constructinganofficebuildingforamanufacturerofpharmaceuticals.Thequestion
of the networked health-relevant factors for office buildings quickly arose.
Through numerous discussions with various specialists, with the designated
authorsandeditors,aframeworkwiththenecessaryfactorsforthetopiccollection
gradually developed.
This framework was optimized and further refined in a joint workshop with the
authors. In group work, the requirements were formed into a content structure
depending on the chapters and then the texts were designed by the individual
authors thanks to experience, practice and imagination. Particularly noteworthy
here is the interdisciplinary cooperation, but also the joint, goal-oriented coopera-
tion of “competitors” (it is probably one of the few books or text contributions in
which, for example, several people from the furniture manufacturer business (de-
signfunktion, Vitra and Kinnarps) work on a goal). The authors responsible met
and/orconsultedeachotherontopicswherethecoordinationofthetextcontentwas
helpful (e.g. the © Seiferlein 4 (cid:1) Ls, the colours in theory and practice, the
influence on furniture; see Chap. 9, Table 9.1).
Asisoftenthecase,thisdevelopmentpatternillustratesthenecessaryteamwork,
working hand in hand for a common goal: “The planned health”.
Thetargetgroupofthebookisareadershipfromdifferentdisciplines—building
owners, architects, engineers, lawyers, psychologists, ergonomists, doctors, pro-
fessors (e.g. economics, engineering technology), students, project managers,
buyers, marketing staff, managing directors, project stakeholders, project devel-
opers, investors etc.—as well as different types of people (cf. Seiferlein, Woyczyk
2017,p.101ff.:DerMensch)indifferentroles.Inordertooptimizecommunication
and knowledge generation (ibid., p. 119 ff.: Knowledge Generation), a language
vii
viii Preface
understandable to all was used (ibid., p. 16, Fig. 1-1: “The Networked Triangle”;
p. 29 ff. for creating user requirements’ specific, functional, programming, etc.).
The book is a guide that can be applied chapter by chapter, depending on the
interests of the reader. This guideline underlines the goal of providing
application-oriented and practical support. Possible problems are dealt with and
possiblesolutionsarepointedoutandillustratedwithexamples.Recommendations
are given for companies, both for conversions and for new buildings.
Itwasimportanttoustobringthedifferentdisciplinestogether,andweenjoyed
the exchange very much and it was extremely enriching. Health is an important
issue. For companies, the health of their employees has the highest priority. With
thisbook,wewanttogiveanoverviewandaguidelinetoallinterestedinthetopic.
Frankfurt/Main, Germany Werner Seiferlein
Munich, Germany Christine Kohlert
Introductory Remarks
What does health have to do with an administrative building?
Thisquestion,whichissoimportantforushumans,isinvestigatedinthisbook.
The essential factors are determined and discussed, and the health-relevant aspects
related to an administration building are discussed in detail. This approach gener-
ates the plannable and networked factors that form the basis for the design of an
administration building.
Here the economic or commercial share should not be strongly included in the
determinationofresults.However,inGermanytherearemorethan40billioneuros
Fig.1 Threelevelsofwell-being
ix
x IntroductoryRemarks
peryearinlostproductionduetoillnessandinabilitytoworkcausedbyillness(cf.
Spath et al. 2011, p. 40).
Health is a high good. It is therefore legitimate to work out the facets of health
determinants and consider them in detail when creating a workplace for a certain
number of people.
A book that meets this requirement creates a gap in the portfolio that is filled
with it.
Particular emphasis is placed on the three areas defined by the World Health
Organization as critical to health: mental–social–physical well-being in the work-
place. All three levels play an essential role in human satisfaction with regard to
work and the working environment (see Fig. 1).
Health Satisfaction
Thestatement:“Healthinsteadofwealth”showswhatisveryimportanttoGermans
for their quality of life. Eighty per cent want health for family and
partnership. Therefore, health care plays an important role as an interdisciplinary
construct in which different experts, specialists, but also users should be involved.
Here, health is no longer measured in terms of illnesses, but in terms of satis-
faction (cf. Martin 2006, Definition of job satisfaction If needs are satisfied in the
work and/or the goals of the action are reached, then the feeling of satisfaction
arisesasaresult.Sosomeoneismotivatedtoworkbecausehewantstoearnmoney
and satisfied when he reaches his goal.). Nowadays, individualization plays a
central role up to health satisfaction (cf. Huber et al. 2015). Holistic treatment
concepts and individually implemented health care (personalized medicine) are
goals for the future. Health orientation and responsibility for health lie primarily
with each individual. Trends and drivers for the need for security and recognition
and thus for health satisfaction were presented by Abraham Harold Maslow in his
pyramid of needs for human motivation (the “Pyramid of Needs” by Maslow is a
pyramidal representation of the hierarchy of human needs—in an article published
in 1943, Maslow summarized his motivation theory for the first time; see Maslow
1943) (Fig. 2).
Maslow formed a5-stagepyramid outofhuman needs. InStage1,heprovided
the basic need like food, clothing, sleep, warmth, reproduction. These must be
fulfilled before man is motivated to strive for the satisfaction of the next stages.
Stage2dealsprimarilywiththeneedforsecurity.Theaimoftheprogrammeis
to promote the protection and demarcation of the labour market, the creation of
stocks and savings and the preservation of jobs.
Stage 3 considers the social needs: love, affirmation, belonging to a group,
human contacts.
Stage 4 is followed by the my needs, i.e. the need for appreciation, such as
recognition by the group or superiors, fame and honour, attention.
The fifth and last stage finally consider the need for self-realization.