Sustainability in offices is not just about regulations but it is becoming the norm due to impact of occupants’ wellbeing

The increase of studies and information on health and wellbeing in the last couple of years has triggered an increasing awareness of the correlation between the office space environment, the health and wellbeing of its occupants and the impact on businesses performance and productivity. Health and wellbeing, as part of the people component of sustainability, is of great interest not only from epistemological view point, but also for practitioners as they start recognising the impact it can have on their people and as a result on their businesses. Along with the awareness, it has become difficult for the industry to filter, process and act accordingly. The question if investors main driver to invest in sustainable office spaces is regulations or the market remains unanswered. When it comes to investors’ decisions in terms of sustainable office buildings there seems to be a conflict of interests. While the intention to create and provide sustainable office buildings exists, it often fails due to financial reasons – other aspects like environmental and social constrains are then often side-lined. However, there are indications that there is a change in the paradigm of thinking, as investors begin to acknowledge the importance of sustainability and its benefits, but the question remains, whether investors will indeed invest in sustainable buildings for other reasons other than being bound by regulations. The author of the research will not delve into the impact buildings can have on the health of people as the medical perspective will not be the focus of the research. The aim of the research is to gain understanding of the relationship between sustainable office buildings, occupiers’ wellbeing and the impact on investors' decisions to adopt, develop or purchase sustainable premises. In order to understand how investors add value to their properties and if wellbeing matters, the researchers participated in numerous discussions that took place at RICS Commercial Property Conferences. To gauge the sentiment of the industry, the researchers are in the process of carrying out in-depth interviews with advisors who have a direct exposure to the investors' decisions. The researchers are visiting and analysing office spaces of corporations in the EU that have implemented the recommendations of current research and obtained WELL Building Standard certification case studies aiming to showcase that they provide the best office space for their employees. Additionally, monitoring the market and gauging the spread of the WELL Building Standard globally, nationally, locally will result in identifying how many buildings are actually applying a health and wellbeing-oriented strategy and whether there was an upward tendency among investors to invest in such buildings in EMEA in the past three years or it remains rather steady with a few buildings being rather the exception. The paper will focus on filling the gap in the literature which is the triangulation of the topics: health and wellbeing of occupants; the impact of sustainable office buildings on their wellbeing and the main drivers for investors to invest in sustainability.