As a business owner, you understand the importance of having a productive workforce, one who not just shows up for their job but comes ready to face the daily challenges. And yet, do you know the actual costs associated with employees who miss their shifts or arrive unable to focus?

While looking for the best place to buy or rent an office, think about how you can increase your employee’s work productivity by choosing an environment that provides easy access to nature and natural lighting.

The good news is that you don’t need to spend these cost year after year. Instead, providing employees with a workspace with transparent access to the sun and natural lights boost employee productivity.

You must select an office space that offers access to nature and natural light.

If you want to give your employees natural light and views of nature, then all they need is some windows and outside greenery. However, though it may be that simple, you’ll need to carefully consider where they’re placed to get the most productivity benefits.

Windows

If you want to create an office space that provides ample natural lighting, strategic placement of windows is vital. It allows you to provide employees with adequate natural lighting and reduces electricity bills by cutting down on artificial lighting.

LightSearch.com’s Daylight Guide for the Commercial Office (PDF) shows that light entering from above is best because it causes less glare. To achieve that result, the site recommends one of these options:

• Skylights with a light diffuser
• clerestory windows (windows that are situated high up)

Clerestory windows and skylights may be hard to locate in an existing office building. However, even if you use only perimeter windows, you can still achieve daylighting by placing them at a standard height.

You’ll need to ensure the office spaces you choose have plenty of windows that let in lots of natural sunlight.

Next, you’ll want to position your office interior to maximize available natural lighting. A helpful resource for this step is Lightsearch.com‘s guide.

Outdoor Vegetation

The same window covering that let in natural light can also provide your workers with an outside view, but what will they be able to see when they look out their office window?

Ideally, your new workspace would be located near a central courtyard so that you could grow a garden for your staff to enjoy as they work.

If the office space cannot be surrounded by nature, then nature must cover the office space.

Plants or bushes lining the outside of the building will do as long as employees can see them from their desks.

If you’re looking for an office location in a dense urban area, you won’t be able to find a building with enough extra room to start a backyard. Instead, you may want to grow a rooftop vegetable patch.

A rooftop garden is only practical if your employees can see it from their desks. Therefore, your offices will need to be accessible by a staircase.

To ensure that your green roofs can support the load of people walking on them, you’ll want to get an estimate from a structural engineer.

Finding an office space that provides your employees with comfortable and convenient outdoor areas may take time and effort. Still, the benefits of increased productivity and improved health will likely outweigh any initial costs.