User Comfort and Productivity

It is always our goal to design forms and shapes in a manner that maximizes productivity of the occupants and provides them a lifeful refreshing environment. This means using natural light and air and as much individual control over the building environment as possible. This also takes on the social context of maximizing the possibility for people to have choices about social connections or privacy in working and living environments.

One measurement of our success with this aspect of ecology is the SMUD Customer Service Center where absenteeism for staff was reduced by 33 percent after relocating to the building. Productivity is hard to estimate but a modest improvement of 5 percent would pay for a building's construction in just one year.

Attention to these aspects of building design has taken on a heightened need with most office workers staring at computer screens most of the time.