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Sustainability Studio Report Biophilia
- 2. DESIGN PREDICAMENT IN THE WORKPLACE Our team originally formed around mutual interest on the topic of noise and light pollution and its pervasive but commonly unknown effects on humans, animals, and the environment. We continued to narrow our focus looking at specific spaces where noise and light pollution have widespread adverse effects that manifest themselves in more of a discrete and subtle manner yet create systemic problems. Our thought process led us to the built environment and the workplace, a space where employee effectiveness, creativity, and well being are often compromised in the pursuit of maximization of profitability. We were ultimately able to identify that this very problem that plagues our society is the direct result of poorly executed design strategy and requires a humancentered innovative solution. Companies rely on the workplace to enable work and team dynamics with the intention these spaces will promote productivity which will be translated into revenue. Prioritization of profitability is often at the expense of the worker’s personal health and wellbeing with prolonged exposure to artificial lighting, an unproductive ambience, unsatisfactory thermal comfort, and poor air quality. Our research led us to findings that indicated the overall health, motivation, and long term efficiency of employees is being jeopardized because they are being deprived of access to natural systems and good design. Living systems and good interior design practices provide employees with the necessary sensory interactions that support physiological and psychological health, in turn stimulating productivity, efficiency, and effectual management of resources such as electrical consumption which is a large contributor to indirect greenhouse gas emissions. The scientific and academic community adamantly believes that humans have a deeply innate emotional affiliation and attraction to nature. Our earliest ancestors lived their lives as hunters and gatherers on the African savanna, completely reliant on their natural surroundings and environment for basic survival. As civilization has advanced over time through industrialization, departure from agrarian practices, and urbanization, we have increasingly distanced ourselves from the natural world and elements that are critical to sustaining life. We have designed ourselves into a predicament in which we have deprived ourselves of our basic evolutionary needs that are coded in our DNA. Facilitating the coexistence of humans and natural living systems in the workspace through various design solutions is the key to our longevity that not only serves the interests of businesses and their bottom line but supports the resiliency of civil society. BUILT ENVIRONMENT & WORKPLACE DESIGN STRATEGY We spend 90% of our time within the built environment. 40% of that time is spent in the workplace. Today,1 2 corporations spend 112 times the amount of money on people as on energy costs in the office , highlighting the3 effect that employees have on a company’s bottom line. The commercial sector has increasingly contributed to significant environmental disruption through high levels of energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, raw materials use, waste output, and potable water use . To provide greater context, the commercial sector alone is4 responsible for 20% of the total electrical consumption in the US. In 2011, direct emissions from homes and5 1 http://www.ecolivinghale.com/greenhealthyprograms.php 2 http://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/#work 3 http://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/downloads/The%20Economics%20of%20Biophilia_Terrapin%20Bright%20Green%202012e.pdf 4 http://www.epa.gov/oaintrnt/projects/ 5 http://buildingsdatabook.eren.doe.gov/ChapterIntro3.aspx 2
- 3. businesses accounted for 11% of the total greenhouse gas emissions . Over the past 20 years, there has been a6 35% rise in indirect emissions from electricity consumption from the residential and commercial industries with the top three end uses being space cooling, lighting, and space heating. Findings implicate that overall productivity, health, and well being of employees directly correlate to effective resource management and environmental responsibility. A healthier and more productive labor force can translate into less time spent in the office setting, which means a significant reduction in environmental impact of the built environment and higher profitability for businesses. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent annually on healthcare costs associated with employee illness, mental stress, and fatigue that are directly linked to poorly designed workspaces that lack a connection to nature. Connecting patients with nature in hospitals has been shown to reduce the average length of stay by approximately ½ of a day which can amount to $93 million in hospital costs savings per year. If nature views advance the healing7 process, then natural design elements in the workplace should hold the key to increasing cognition and mental energy and can essentially be considered a “preventative” measure to illness. According to a study published by Herman Miller, a leader innovator in workplace strategy and design solutions, strategic seating arrangements at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Call Center revealed that agents with a view of the outdoors and nature responded to calls 12 percent faster than those with no view, generating an annual8 savings of nearly $3,000 per employee .9 In another study compiled by Terrapin Bright Green, a leading environmental consultancy, there was a 10% difference in absenteeism rates between two sides of a building, with one side exposed to views of nature and the other side without. There were 10% fewer recorded employee absences on the side with views of nature. The study found that the quality of the person’s view to be the primary predictor of absenteeism. It is clear that the key to a resilient and prosperous society is making an investment in sustainably designed work environments that provide health and productivity benefits to employees through a deeper connection to nature, whether it is through access to plants, views of nature, or natural daylighting. SOCIAL VALUE PROPOSITION : COMMUNICATING BIOPHILIA Biophilia is a theory established by Edward O. Wilson, a biologist, and Stephen Kellert, a social ecologist, in their work, The Biophila Hypothesis, published in 1984. The hypothesis states that humans are hardwired through our evolutionary framework and genetic makeup to be connected with nature on a physical, mental, and social level. The term Biophilia literally means "love of life or living systems." While biophilia is conceptual and theoretical, it has been recognized by the scientific and design community for the past few decades. Humans have experienced biophilia intuitively for thousands of years on more of a cursory level, however it is still considered arguably an emerging design discipline and scientific concept that has a great deal of subtlety and richness to it. We believe that biophilia can be extremely impactful and become adopted as standard design practice, if its benefits were communicated to a wider audience and the greater working population at a more community based level. By communicating and disseminating information about biophilic design benefits to our key stakeholders, biophilia 6 http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/sources/commercialresidential.html 7 http://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/downloads/The%20Economics%20of%20Biophilia_Terrapin%20Bright%20Green%202012e.pdf 8 http://www.hermanmiller.com/research/solutionessays/callcentersfindtheirvoice.html#source8 9 http://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/downloads/The%20Economics%20of%20Biophilia_Terrapin%20Bright%20Green%202012e.pdf 3
- 6. ○ More effective management of resources with increased cognition and productivity, meaning less time spent at office ○ Reduced impact on climate change ■ Lowered atmospheric concentration of CO2, lowered reliance on fossil fuels, and reduced fracking with reduced use of HVAC systems (space cooling and heating) and lighting ■ Increase of air, soil and water quality ■ Minimized contribution to global warming ■ Improvement in human and ecosystem health ● Improved air quality, acoustics, and reduction of toxins and humidity in the air through use of plants and living walls ○ Improved health, wellbeing, motivation, and creativity ■ Reduction with risk of respiratory, cardiac and circulatory issues ■ Reduction in stress levels ■ Reduction with fatigue ■ Reduction in headaches ■ Reduction in sleep irregularities ■ Reduction in musculoskeletal disorders ● Reduction in employee absenteeism and in health care premiums and costs, and higher employee retention rates ○ Due to improved health ○ Due to employee satisfaction ● Reduction in overtime hours worked and associated labor costs, and in business hours worked ○ Due to increased productivity PROPOSED SOLUTION Mission Statement Bio4 is a biophilic design education, consultancy and strategy group inspired to engage people about the tangible benefits of nature's impact on humanity within the built environment. We are committed to advancing our vision of a transformative shift towards largescale adoption and deployment of biophilic design into the workplace through a carefully crafted and compelling experience. We are striving to carve out a direct path to a resilient society, by eliminating barriers and bridging gaps in order to redefine the standards of the green building movement through a holistic design strategy approach. Through the key activities of educational workshops, webinars, a mobile biophilic design experience housed in a retrofitted bus and a curated kit of biophilic design education resources and materials, we are targeting leading innovative manufacturers, interior designers, architects, and facilities managers to educate them about the restorative, regenerative, and systemslevel impacts of natureinspired design. Our designed experience conveys nature’s influence on humanity and its profound ability to diminish humaninduced impact on the environment and its potential to elevate our overall creativity and well being. Key Features/Activities 1) Awareness phase Value Proposition: Educate people about biophilic design. 6
- 8. Another benefit for the manufacturers, besides being part of our events as guest speakers and providing sample offerings, is the exposure of their products on our website as a promotional opportunity. Through the touchpoint of our website, people will be able to find all the information they need about biophilic design in one centralized space. 3) Market Satisfaction phase Value Proposition: In parallel to the hosted events, we are going to offer consultancy services and drive the creation positive workplace environments through guidance and key insights Reason: After 3 years, we will be able to create interest about biophilia amongst facilities managers and designers/architects and build our name and have credibility in this topic Purpose: Explore the new market Strategy: Work as consultants and offer the biophilic design services for facilities managers to be applied in their workplace. We will offer a certificate to facilities managers that will serve as a guarantee that their office meets biophilic design standards through the development of a unique credit rating system. Risk: By keeping the bus experience, we might be creating our own competition. The bus offers the connection between managers and designers, and managers can hire them instead of us. Depending on the revenue stream, we might have to chose between both. A complete overview of our business model canvas can be found in Appendix C. ROLLOUT PLAN We have selected the city of San Francisco as the first location to launch our service as the Bay Area is a densely populated region with many registered businesses, facilities managers, licensed architects and interior designers that could be paired well with our productmarket fit. Additionally, as San Francisco is an incubator for innovative practices and sustainable solutions, we would be positioning ourselves to receive a lot of traffic purely from intellectual curiosity and those seeking knowledge. Shortterm (Year 1): Awareness phase ● Participate in 6 events (preferably those which the target is workplace) ● Lecture about biophilia with a targeted audience of 180 attendees over the 6 events, which can have the potential to influence 18,000 employees Mediumterm (Years 23): Market Creation phase ● Purchase bus for $1 as a retired transit authority bus from a municipality, service it to ensure it is roadready and then retrofit it. ● Host 24 workshops (once a month), for an average of 45 attendees each, achieving a targeted total of 1080 attendees, which can influence 108,000 employees ● Host 24 webinars (once a month), for an average of 100 attendees each, achieving a targeted total of 2400 attendees, which can influence 240,000 employees 8
- 9. Longterm (Years 45): Market Satisfaction phase ● Host 24 workshops (once a month), for an average of 80 attendees each, achieving a targeted total of 1920 attendees, which can influence 192,000 employees ● Host 24 webinars (once a month), for an average of 100 attendees each, achieving a targeted total of 2400 attendees, which can influence 240,000 employees ● Launch consultancy. Secure and close at least 3 projects each year. (A detailed five year budget can be found in Appendix D) COMPETITIVE ASSESSMENT We have identified some competitors that are doing a great deal to generate awareness and engage a wide range of stakeholders about biophilic design such as Interface, which has a broad approach in terms of the distribution of comprehensive marketing materials about biophilia, promoting their biophilic design challenge, and offerings of a range of biophilic design inspired products. They are a strong competitor in terms of being the most formidable catalyst in bridging together workplace innovation/manufacturers, interior designers, architects, and facilities managers to communicate biophilic design benefits. A company such as Interface could be seen as a competitor in terms of the information they disseminate that directly relates to biophilic design, however, we also see them as a strategic partner for our solution that would be mutually beneficial. With regard to research, strategy, and consulting services Terrapin Bright Green would be a good model to emulate to educate our stakeholders in regions where they may not have as much visibility and presence such as the west coast. In terms of the differentiation with our team’s approach we believe there is tremendous value in bringing these stakeholders into one space through a twoprong approach, educating them through “designnight” workshops and webinars but also providing them with an unparalleled opportunity to experience biophilia first hand with the kit and bus, which is not a practice we are aware of being implemented in the ecosystem we are trying to occupy. CONCLUSION Bio4 is an innovative solution that provides a dynamic interactive space for facilities managers, interior designers, architects, and leading manufacturers of sustainable workplace products to receive educational resources about the tangible benefits of biophilic design. Our solution provides a unique space where thought leaders of the built environment can interact around the topic of biophilic design in order to lead to large scale deployment and adoption of biophilia in the office setting. Popularizing implementation of biophilic design will provide societal benefits which include a healthy, creative and satisfied workforce, a cleaner environment, and profitable businesses. Our analysis and research has validated that there is a need for this solution in the marketplace and has provided justification to take this project to a test launch phase. 9
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