Fresh air for performance & productivity

There is a direct correlation between our performance and the amount of fresh air we breathe. This is also what science says: many studies show that our brain needs fresh air to maintain our cognitive performance. But what process enables this very complex organ to generate more power from air?

This is where the so-called ‘grey matter’ comes into play. The grey matter is distributed across various parts of the brain and is formed from neurons. They ensure the transfer of information from one part of the brain to another.

Each individual layer of the brain is responsible for a different function in our body. For example, we need the frontal lobe for the motor control of our body, motivation, drive and our mental performance. The temporal lobe, in turn, is responsible for processing auditory signals and makes hearing possible. However, grey matter is also found in the spinal cord, where it is responsible for motor function and controlling skeletal muscles. In the brain, it controls all brain functions and all functions of the central nervous system. Grey matter is a real all-rounder!!

Good air exchange is particularly important indoors, as otherwise our brain performance will steadily decline. There is also a study on this - this time from Harvard. In this study, the cognitive abilities of employees were measured in 3 different scenarios across 7 federal states. Firstly, the cognitive abilities with a normal fresh air supply through a ventilation system, then the fresh air supply was increased by 30% and in the third scenario this was doubled..

The result of the study: The work efficiency of the participants was increased by 8%, which corresponds to a theoretical performance improvement value of $6,500/person and year. This increase in efficiency results from faster decision-making, better handling of problems and difficulties and, in addition, a reduction in employee absences and sick leave.

In comparison, the energy costs for doubling the fresh air supply per person were a maximum of $40/person in all 7 US cities analysed. Depending on the filtration system used, the costs per person could be minimised even further, for example by using an energy recovery filtration system.

The increase in productivity per person is therefore at least 150 times greater than the resulting energy costs for the additional air purification/ventilation of the office buildings.

So what? Just airing the room doesn't help. We need to intelligently increase the supply of fresh air in order to fully benefit from increased productivity and performance!