Saint-Gobain headquarters, 20 Moores Road, Malvern, PA, during 2015 building dedication

MALVERN, PA—The selection of building materials, systems, and environmental factors have a significant effect on building occupant comfort, building products company Saint-Gobain has found, in a groundbreaking study with the University of Oregon.

The study, conducted over 36 months since the firm relocated from its former Valley Forge location to its current headquarters in Malvern, PA, used the headquarters as a “living laboratory” to evaluate employee productivity, satisfaction and well-being.

Watch an exclusive GlobeSt.com video news report about the Saint-Gobain headquarters environment and office comfort study in the player below. If you don't see a player below, click here to watch the video.

Among the key study findings, Saint-Gobain reported that 40% of employees reported feeling more productive, 53% said their perception of their health and well-being improved; complaints about “Sick Building Syndrome” symptoms, such as dry eyes, difficulty concentrating and back pain, decreased by 28.6%; and the company's call center recorded a 140% increase in productivity.

Carmen Ferrigno, vice president of communications, Saint-Gobain, Malvern, PA

“What we found is that when you improve the comfort and well-being of the people in a building by designing a more dynamic building, they start to behave differently,” says Carmen Ferrigno, vice president of communications with Saint-Gobain. “We've watched them for the last 2-1/2 years and seen how they've evolved from where they used to work—a place that was built in the 1970s—to this new, dynamic building, where we're managing the acoustics, the thermal comfort, the air quality, the exposure to daylight. We're seeing people form teams faster, we're seeing them solve problems better, and we're seeing them really enjoy the experience of coming to work in a way that they probably haven't before in their careers.”