Moving to an “Active” Biophilic Designed Office Workplace: A Pilot Study about the Effects on Sitting Time and Sitting Habits of Office-Based Workers
Promising initial insights show that offices designed to permit physical activity (PA) may reduce workplace sitting time. Biophilic approaches are intended to introduce natural surroundings into the workplace, and preliminary data show positive effects on stress reduction and elevated productivity w...
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doaj-2b86d80ea8874028b804540cc4bfe9762020-11-24T20:43:08ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012019-05-01169155910.3390/ijerph16091559ijerph16091559Moving to an “Active” Biophilic Designed Office Workplace: A Pilot Study about the Effects on Sitting Time and Sitting Habits of Office-Based WorkersBirgit Wallmann-Sperlich0Sophie Hoffmann1Anne Salditt2Tanja Bipp3Ingo Froboese4Institute for Sports Science, Julius-Maximilian University Würzburg, 97082 Würzburg, GermanyInstitute for Sports Science, Julius-Maximilian University Würzburg, 97082 Würzburg, GermanyInterface Deutschland GmbH, Krefeld, 47803 Krefeld, GermanyWork, Industrial, and Organizational Psychology, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, 97070 Würzburg, GermanyInstitute of Health Promotion and Clinical Movement Science, German Sport University Cologne, 50933 Cologne, GermanyPromising initial insights show that offices designed to permit physical activity (PA) may reduce workplace sitting time. Biophilic approaches are intended to introduce natural surroundings into the workplace, and preliminary data show positive effects on stress reduction and elevated productivity within the workplace. The primary aim of this pilot study was to analyze changes in workplace sitting time and self-reported habit strength concerning uninterrupted sitting and PA during work, when relocating from a traditional office setting to “active” biophilic-designed surroundings. The secondary aim was to assess possible changes in work-associated factors such as satisfaction with the office environment, work engagement, and work performance, among office staff. In a pre-post designed field study, we collected data through an online survey on health behavior at work. Twelve participants completed the survey before (one-month pre-relocation, T<sub>1</sub>) and twice after the office relocation (three months (T<sub>2</sub>) and seven months post-relocation (T<sub>3</sub>)). Standing time per day during office hours increased from T<sub>1</sub> to T<sub>3</sub> by about 40 min per day (<i>p</i> < 0.01). Other outcomes remained unaltered. The results suggest that changing office surroundings to an active-permissive biophilic design increased standing time during working hours. Future larger-scale controlled studies are warranted to investigate the influence of office design on sitting time and work-associated factors during working hours in depth.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/9/1559desk-basedoffice-workersstandingonline surveywalkingwork engagementhabit strengthwork performanceoffice environment |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Birgit Wallmann-Sperlich Sophie Hoffmann Anne Salditt Tanja Bipp Ingo Froboese |
spellingShingle |
Birgit Wallmann-Sperlich Sophie Hoffmann Anne Salditt Tanja Bipp Ingo Froboese Moving to an “Active” Biophilic Designed Office Workplace: A Pilot Study about the Effects on Sitting Time and Sitting Habits of Office-Based Workers International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health desk-based office-workers standing online survey walking work engagement habit strength work performance office environment |
author_facet |
Birgit Wallmann-Sperlich Sophie Hoffmann Anne Salditt Tanja Bipp Ingo Froboese |
author_sort |
Birgit Wallmann-Sperlich |
title |
Moving to an “Active” Biophilic Designed Office Workplace: A Pilot Study about the Effects on Sitting Time and Sitting Habits of Office-Based Workers |
title_short |
Moving to an “Active” Biophilic Designed Office Workplace: A Pilot Study about the Effects on Sitting Time and Sitting Habits of Office-Based Workers |
title_full |
Moving to an “Active” Biophilic Designed Office Workplace: A Pilot Study about the Effects on Sitting Time and Sitting Habits of Office-Based Workers |
title_fullStr |
Moving to an “Active” Biophilic Designed Office Workplace: A Pilot Study about the Effects on Sitting Time and Sitting Habits of Office-Based Workers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Moving to an “Active” Biophilic Designed Office Workplace: A Pilot Study about the Effects on Sitting Time and Sitting Habits of Office-Based Workers |
title_sort |
moving to an “active” biophilic designed office workplace: a pilot study about the effects on sitting time and sitting habits of office-based workers |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2019-05-01 |
description |
Promising initial insights show that offices designed to permit physical activity (PA) may reduce workplace sitting time. Biophilic approaches are intended to introduce natural surroundings into the workplace, and preliminary data show positive effects on stress reduction and elevated productivity within the workplace. The primary aim of this pilot study was to analyze changes in workplace sitting time and self-reported habit strength concerning uninterrupted sitting and PA during work, when relocating from a traditional office setting to “active” biophilic-designed surroundings. The secondary aim was to assess possible changes in work-associated factors such as satisfaction with the office environment, work engagement, and work performance, among office staff. In a pre-post designed field study, we collected data through an online survey on health behavior at work. Twelve participants completed the survey before (one-month pre-relocation, T<sub>1</sub>) and twice after the office relocation (three months (T<sub>2</sub>) and seven months post-relocation (T<sub>3</sub>)). Standing time per day during office hours increased from T<sub>1</sub> to T<sub>3</sub> by about 40 min per day (<i>p</i> < 0.01). Other outcomes remained unaltered. The results suggest that changing office surroundings to an active-permissive biophilic design increased standing time during working hours. Future larger-scale controlled studies are warranted to investigate the influence of office design on sitting time and work-associated factors during working hours in depth. |
topic |
desk-based office-workers standing online survey walking work engagement habit strength work performance office environment |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/9/1559 |
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