Making the Economic Case for Biophilic Design
Sourced from Common Edge
Asimple walk in the park will relax even the most tightly wound individual. But what about the places where people spend far more of their time, such as schools, office buildings, and hospitals? What role can design play in incorporating nature into those environments? And at what additional cost? Bill Browning has published a book—The Economics of Biophilia: Why Designing With Nature in Mind Makes Financial Sense, 2nd Edition (written with Catie Ryan and Dakota Walker)—arguing that the cost of bringing nature into building projects isn’t prohibitive, but additive. An environmental strategist with a long history in green building, Browning is one of the founding partners (with architects Bob Fox and Rick Cook) of the sustainable design consultancy Terrapin Bright Green. Recently I talked with Browning about biophilic design—and, because he was a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s board of directors, about the strengths and shortcomings of the LEED rating system.
BB: Bill Browning
MCP: Martin C. Pedersen
MCP: I see the word “biophilia” thrown around so much now that it’s in danger of losing its meaning. Why don’t we start by defining the term, as you understand it.
BB: I tend to use E.O. Wilson’s definition: “Biophilia is the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms.” The research that we’re interested in is how experiences of nature impact people, psychologically and physiologically. Biophilic design, then, is the process of translating that into the built environment.
MCP: The book’s title caught my eye. The economic case for green building is pretty straightforward: energy performance. What’s the metric for biophilic design?
BB: It depends on what you’re measuring. In an office, it might be staff retention, productivity, or lease rates. In education, it can be test scores, graduation rates, absenteeism. In retail, it may be sales pressure, pricing values, staff retention. In healthcare, it’s patient healing time and staff retention and turnover.
From the Living Architecture Monitor
