Environment, Italians spend 90% of their time indoors: 22 hours a day in offices, schools and homes

Italians spend a total of 90 per cent of their time indoors, and for around 22 hours a day they are found in indoor environments, from the private home to the office or school, via gyms, supermarkets and shops. This is highlighted by the Italian Academy of Biophilia (Aib).

Recent studies, explain the Academy, have shown, for example, that in public and private offices where an environment has been created that is attentive to people's wellbeing by incorporating natural elements (e.g. large windows with a view of the outdoors and plenty of sunlight, the presence of plants, natural shapes, materials and colours, natural ventilation and scents, quiet spaces for mental and physical regeneration) productivity increases by an average of 11 per cent, while the quality of workers' performance increases by between 10 and 25 per cent; stress is reduced by an average of 37 per cent and absenteeism by 16 per cent.

At school, students' learning speed increases by up to 26 per cent, their ability to concentrate by 15 per cent, while biophilic design in hospitals reduces patients' anxiety by 34 per cent and speeds up healing times by 18 per cent. A relaxing environment with direct connections to nature also sells more,' notes the Aib. 'For example, it has been shown that shops with a biophilic design record an increase in sales of up to 20 per cent, customer admissions go up by 28.8 per cent, and even the time spent by consumers inside the shop premises increases by 279 per cent.

These data will be illustrated in detail on 17 September at a meeting at the Chamber of Deputies entitled 'Connecting with nature for social, environmental and economic well-being'. Among others, the Minister for the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, will speak.