Page 9 - Green Builder March-April 2017 Issue

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Green Building NEWS

The latest on sustainability and renewable energy Tesla, Panasonic
At the Workplace,

a Green Scene Is Gear Up for Solar

Golden for Business Roofing Venture

A Harvard study shows that The companies’ high-efficiency panel

sustainable offices make for healthier, will be produced at NY factory

more-productive employees. starting in summer.

HALK UP ANOTHER benefit of being green: It ESLA MOTORS AND PANASONIC CORP. will
apparently makes you smarter. A study by the co-produce solar roofing modules in the second half of
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds this year at their new facility in Buffalo, N.Y. In a joint
that employees in buildings that are certified statement, the companies said the effort marks a new
Cgreen do 26.4 percent better on cognitive T direction in their ongoing partnership, which focuses
function tests than counterparts in non-green offices. primarily on electric cars and self-driving vehicles.
The collaboration will “accelerate production of high-efficiency,
extremely reliable solar cells and modules at the best cost,” Tesla
co-founder and CTO J.B. Straubel said.
Panasonic said its new photovoltaic panel has a solar energy
conversion efficiency of 25.6 percent, compared to the typical panel’s
15 to 16 percent efficiency rating.
The production site is the $900 million, 1 million-square-foot
facility built by SolarCity, which Tesla acquired in November 2016.
The factory’s output is expected to reach 1 gigawatt by 2019. By
FLICKR/NORMALITYRELIEF that point, it will be North America’s largest maker of solar cells,
employing 1,400 workers, including 500 people in manufacturing,
according to the joint release.

Brain power. A certified green building can make employees Tesla: www.tesla.com; Panasonic: http://shop.panasonic.com
healthier and more alert on the job, and possibly prevent
moments like this.
The study, showed that a green building’s natural light and
improved temperature control tended to make occupants
more productive, according to lead author Piers MacNaughton.
A greener building also led to better sleep at night among
workers, which kept them more alert and less likely to doze
off during the day.
Researchers designed the study as a follow-up to other
findings where work productivity was hindered by indoor air
quality. In general, employees in non-green buildings suffered
more illnesses, and were unable to focus on their jobs. Green
buildings have fewer volatile organic compounds, allergens,
nitrogen dioxide and other health-impacting compounds,
MacNaughton noted.

FLICKR/MARUFISH
Source: “The impact of working in a green certified building on
cognitive function and health”: http:bit.ly/2iaRsUz

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