The aim of the project which led to this review of the literature was to ascertain the state of knowledge internationally about how the indoor environment of buildings influences occupants and the impact this influence may have on the total cost of ownership of buildings. One of the main focus areas for the literature has been identifying whether there a link between productivity and health of building occupants and the indoor environment.

Productivity is both easy to define ― the ratio of output to input ― but at the same time very hard to measure in a relatively small environment where individual contributions can influence the results, in particular social interactions. Health impacts from a building environment are also difficult to measure well, as establishing causal links between the indoor environment and a particular health issue can be very difficult. All of these issues are canvassed in the literature reported here.