Maintaining air quality in a closed environment like an office can get extremely difficult, largely because of the many elements (like ventilation and filtration) that need to be considered while thinking of a solution. But poor air quality can lead to serious issues, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, increased chances of lung cancer, and sick building syndrome (SBS).
Sick building syndrome, in particular, is a big cause of concern in workplaces. This syndrome refers to situations where individuals experience health issues or symptoms due to working in a hazardous or harmful workplace or residing in unsafe conditions. Pertaining mainly to indoor air quality, symptoms of SBS can include breathing difficulties, throat irritation, headaches, fatigue, and nausea (as stated in the 2019 report by Nature Public Health Emergency Collection). The main reasons are often poor ventilation, biological pollutants like viruses and germs, and volatile organic compounds. To avoid SBS, companies must invest in an office that takes effective measures to improve and maintain indoor air quality.
Practice WorkWell at Your Workplace
One way to gauge safety and comfort of a workplace is to check its green certification and WELL certification. WELL standards are essentially a yardstick that an office should use to ensure a healthy workforce. It sets a bar for each factor, from indoor air quality to comfort, to provide a holistic environment for the employees.
Borrowing inspiration from WELL, Max Estates follows the philosophy of WorkWell when planning and building a safe environment for everyone. With this philosophy, we not only aim to achieve the benchmark specifications set by WELL, but go beyond those and create workspaces that prioritize the health & well-being of our tenants.
Our WorkWell philosophy utilizes eleven elements to ensure employee well-being, including holistic factors like nature, recreation and community, and physical elements like technology, sanitation, and comfort. By strengthening employees’ relationships with their workspace through biophilic design and the latest technology, Max Estates creates an environment where employees can work productively without having to worry about sick building syndrome cramping their productivity and impacting their health and well-being.
Fresh Air, Enabled by Technology
The first step towards keeping sick building syndrome at bay should be installing proper ventilation systems. Without adequate ventilation, high-tech filters will have very limited effectiveness. With a high-quality HVAC unit, Max Estates properties maximize efforts to provide a smooth air circulation system. An HVAC unit also helps in temperature control, which further adds to the holistic environment we create with our WorkWell philosophy.
Providing an atmosphere where employees are safe from harmful pollutants in the air is important. At Max Estates, we use HEPA grade 3 tier (Max House) and MERV 13 equivalent rated air filters (Max Towers) to provide clean air and help improve overall indoor air quality. Hepa air filters can remove up to 99.97% dust, pollen, bacteria, and airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns (Source).
The Natural Effect
Besides using technology to improve the air quality in the workspace, companies can also integrate nature into the architecture to give employees refreshing breaks from their screens and enable them to work in a soothing atmosphere.
At Max Estates, we consider biophilia as the core of our design, not just to give employees a natural way to relax but also to improve productivity and boost creativity. Employees can invigorate themselves while breathing in the fresh air at the green walkways at Max Towers or venture into the forest courtyard at the heart of Max Square.
Sick building syndrome can negatively affect the workspace in many ways. A harmful indoor environment can lead to unhealthy employees, making the team unproductive and creating a block for innovative ideas. SBS also gives the impression of lackluster management and drives retention and recruitment down. Firms should invest in offices that keep up to WELL standards to avoid such results.
The Covid-19 pandemic put a lot of things into perspective for companies. The realization that workspaces needed to be upgraded to maintain the health of a workforce dealing with the aftermath of a global pandemic hit home and hit hard. Firms that prioritize employee wellness improved operational efficiency by creating a holistic and safe workspace. With infrastructure taken care of in this manner, leaders could focus on other areas, such as establishing work culture and building a robust bond between the employees so that the team functions like a well-oiled machine.
Max Estates provides offices suited for maximum productivity. With our WELL-inspired WorkWell philosophy to build workplaces that ensure the emotional and physical well-being of employees, Max Estates creates a holistic address for your team. Each of our establishments provides an ecosystem of safety and rejuvenation, enabling your people to truly WorkWell.
Want to learn more about how Max Estates can help maximize employee well-being? Reach out to us.
