Connecting Space, Behavior & Health – Inspiring Presentation at USGBC’s Rocky Mountain Green

Reporting back from USGBC Rocky Mountain Green Conference! David Rosenfeld represented CCA at the conference, and came back with a wealth of knowledge. When asked what his favorite seminar was, he told us about the presentation titled: Connecting space, behavior and health by Austin Kane (Unico Properties), Greg Dekker (Teknion) and Jeff Hohensee (Alliance for Sustainable Colorado).

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Photo by: USGBC

The focus of this seminar was on the impact of the workplace environment on productivity and performance. The Alliance Center is intended to create a range of environments within a single workplace. They experimented with the concept that people utilize different environments for different functions. Individuals have distinct requirements for productivity, as every person is designed differently. The example given was how people will change locations within their home when working remotely. Some like moving when making phone calls or standing outside. Some need absolute silence to focus, others need music or white noise. Some can tune out conversations, others can’t. Sometimes a coffee shop is the best place for a meeting, other times it’s a formal conference room.

Photo by: The Alliance Center

Photo by: The Alliance Center

The presenters acknowledged that this concept is fairly new to commercial workplace design and is constantly developing. The Alliance center was able to increase the number of employees within the building using this strategy, which was one major advantage from a tenant standpoint. The fixed desks in the quiet, acoustically controlled area were smaller than typical, but other spaces were created to allow employees locational options (coffee shop, “living room”, etc).

These concepts gleaned from the conference, and all of the continuing education we do at CCA, fosters not only our internal conversations but the design strategies for our varied types of projects. Thanks to the USGBC for another outstanding conference!

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