90%
people spend most of their lives indoors
People spend nearly 90% of their time indoors
This statistic motivates the study's focus on office environments: since people spend nearly 90% of their time indoors, understanding how indoor design features affect cognitive and emotional states has significant real-world implications for health and productivity.
People spend nearly 90% of their time indoors, yet the cognitive and emotional effects of office environments remain poorly understood.
Related findings
80%
four in five study participants worked in an open-plan office before the pandemic
Nearly 80% of study participants worked in an open-plan office before the COVID-19 pandemic
Lisanne Bergefurt et al., 2023, Ergonomics
25% office occupancy improved all wellbeing and cognitive outcomes; full occupancy worsened all
A low occupancy rate (25%) improved all expected psychological and cognitive responses, while full occupancy (100%) had a negative effect on all
Lisanne Bergefurt et al., 2023, Ergonomics
+12%
occupants reported greater thermal comfort when plants were present in the room
Workers were ~12% more thermally comfortable when plants were present
Ratna Purwaningsih et al., 2025, E3S Web of Conferences
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Where the evidence on classroom air, acoustics, light and green is robust, where it is thin, and what to measure before the build.
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