According to a recent study from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, office workers who are exposed to more natural light during office hours enjoy numerous benefits over employees with darker working conditions. Workers in the study who had access to windows and natural light exposure reported longer sleep duration, better sleep quality, more physical activity and overall, better quality of life compared with workers who did not have windows.
Originally reported in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine in June 2014, the study emphasized that architectural design and incorporation of natural light in office environments is vital to employee health. In fact, the study found that employees with access to natural light received 173 percent more white light exposure and slept more than 46 minutes more per night than employees without the same exposure. The study also found that workers in offices with windows experienced more physical activity than those without.
In addition to incorporating windows into design, commercial offices can enhance natural lighting through applications like glass block wall partitions offered by Innovate Building Solutions, allowing natural and artificial lighting to continuously move through the office interiors so that employees with windows aren’t the only ones who reap the benefits.
Glass block walls and office partitions reduce noise by providing a STC (Sound Transmission Class) rating up to 53; significantly lower heating and cooling costs; improve building security; and enhance safety with 45, 60 an 90 minute fire ratings. These systems can be designed to be anything but traditional, with a wide variety of decorative patterns, colors, sizes, shapes and thicknesses to choose from. They can even be used in glass floor panels to move light through through the inside of a building!
The glass block wall systems from Innovate Building Solutions are especially cost-effective thanks to their prefabrication and ability to be built into sections, reducing installation time and cutting field labor costs.
To learn more about the powerful effects of light cited in the study from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, click here. Learn how you can improve your office space with glass block windows and walls by visiting the Innovate Building Solutions website or calling 877-668-5888 for nationwide assistance.
Innovate Building Solutions also offers regional installation assistance of glass block systems in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio as well as the surrounding areas.
President of Innovate Building Solutions a nationwide supplier and regional (Cleveland and Columbus) remodeling contractors. Some of our product lines include glass counters, floors, backsplashes, glass blocks and grout free shower and tub wall panels
