More than money: Employees in China demand cleaner office air

PureLiving's CEO Louie Cheng poses for pictures during an interview in his office in Shanghai, December 21, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

A report published this month by realtor Jones Lang LaSalle and indoor solutions firm PureLiving, said 90 percent of office buildings in Beijing are not achieving substantive reductions in air particulate matter with their current filtration systems.

PureLiving's chief executive Louie Cheng said about a third of Fortune 100 companies his company works with have now started cleaning up office air, with the majority targeting indoor particulate matter.

"The last thing we want is for someone to worry about the air they're breathing, so it's a great selling point for us," said Geoff Broderick, vice president and general manager of Asia-Pacific Automotive Operations at J.D. Power.

Property developers such as Kerry Properties and Jiaming Investment Co Ltd have implemented air system upgrades in hopes that better indoor air quality will attract more tenants.

Beijing has already issued two "red alerts" for smog this winter, which see cars taken off roads and schools and factories closed.

A red alert is triggered when the government believes air quality will surpass a level of 200 on an index that measures various pollutants for at least three days.

Christine Grand, a Shanghai-based executive at a subsidiary of WPP, said in the future she would only contemplate working for firms that have made similar commitments.

"It makes you feel better about spending time in the office," she said.