Buildings can cost less yet benefit human health, productivity and the environment
On average, Americans spend 90 percent of their time inside buildings. A new report by Minnesota Planning, Return on Investment: High Performance Buildings, suggests that the way public buildings are designed, built and operated affects lifetime costs, human health, labor productivity, student achievement and environmental quality.
The report identifies emerging practices in the building trades, outlines efforts across the country and recommends ways to adopt these practices in Minnesota.
Smart signals: an assessment of progress indicators
An Assessment of Progress Indicators critiques measures of economic progress and looks for alternative ways to more realistically gauge Minnesota's well-being. As a result this research, the Minnesota progress indicator was developed. The new indicator is based on the belief that Minnesota's economy can be healthy in the long run only if its environment and communities are healthy. The measures used in computing the progress indicator help determine if the economy is being improved at the expense of Minnesota's communities or environment.