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Project Leader
Jennifer Veitch
Phone: 613-993-9671
Fax: 613-954-3733
Email: Jennifer.Veitch@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Effect of Office Design on Organisational Productivity
Objectives
To determine how the design and operation of the indoor environment (acoustics, lighting, indoor air quality, and office design) affect organizational productivity, through their effects on building occupants (e.g., satisfaction, health and well-being, task performance, job retention, organizational commitment).
Typical Open-Plan Office
Background
Office buildings are the most common type of workplace, with the majority of people working in open-plan offices. Because an increasing share of Canada's GDP is generated by businesses operating within an office setting, knowing how office design and operation affect occupants and organizational productivity is of great importance.
Statement of Work
- Compiled information from scientific research on how acoustics, lighting, indoor air quality, and office design affect outcomes that are linked to organizational productivity (e.g., occupant satisfaction, task performance, job retention, health).
- Included results from IRC's Cost-effective Open-Plan Environments (COPE) research project and other IRC research.
- Analyzed and distilled this information into practical form for office managers and owners in the form of advice on how to design open-plan offices that are conducive to occupant satisfaction and organizational productivity.
Outcomes
Design recommendations for improving office environments, summarized in a booklet Workstation Design for Organizational Productivity.
Partner
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Start/Completion Dates
The project began in 2002 and was completed in 2005.
Publications
Open-plan office designs - promoting organizational productivity
Charles, K.E. Pero, K.
Construction Canada, 48 (4)
pp. 36-38, 40, 42-43. 2006-07-01
[Full citation / Référence complète]
Workstation Design for Organizational Productivity
Charles, K.E. Danforth, A. Veitch, J.A. Zwierzchowski, C. Johnson, B. Pero, K.
pp. 75. 2004-11-01
[Full citation / Référence complète]
IRC and PWGSC team up to provide guidance on office design choices
Charles, K.E.
Construction Innovation, 10 (3)
pp. 10. 2005-09-01
[Full citation / Référence complète]
Workstation Design for the Open-Plan Office
Veitch, J.A. Charles, K.E. Newsham, G.R.
Construction Technology Update, (61)
pp. 4. 2004-10-01
Order / Commander : http://www.nrc- cnrc.gc.ca/virtualstore
[Full citation / Référence complète]
Environmental psychologists contribute to indoor environment research at IRC
Charles, K.E.
Construction Innovation, 7 (3)
pp. 10. 2002-09-01
[Full citation / Référence complète]
