Some people like a warm office, some like cold, others are never happy with it.
But though negligible, the temperature and humidity of the workplace significantly affect the productivity of the citizens every day. Think about how frustrating it can be if you work in the wrong place.
If it’s too hot, you’re upset, and you’re too cold, it’s harder to think. Researchers have also indicated warm environments for creative thought to be easier, whereas cold environments keep you alerted for repeated activities.
You probably already know if the office temperature is controversial. Take an informal survey or ask at the next business meeting for a handshake to see who’s hot, who’s cold and who’s correct.
An excessively cold office attempted to correct the condition and increased the thermostat to one degree. The office was then too humid. This is how fragile the temperature control technology can be.
All the logistics, the design of the premises, the office layout, the age and the reliability of the HVAC system play an important role. To reach a heart that works for everybody, you will need professional support.
Everyone has knowledge that one angle cubicle can be cold while the other side of the office is warm because the wind blows directly through one place or because a large sun-facing window in another changes the temperature.
Encourage workers to find the place they want. Perhaps two staff members could shift the room or a warm team member could move under the A/C ventilation.
Due to the different temperature requirements of your house, zoning with different thermostats can be one way to regulate the temperature in any location. Talk about adding thermostat areas to an HVAC pro or the building maintenance staff.
Building owners and managers are also aware of how their heating and cooling systems perform by telling the occupants if they want to be relaxed or cooler or colder.
Everyone, however, has a different ideal temperature at any time, depending on all kinds of variables, including age and gender, the level of physical activity, what they wear, and even how stressed they feel.
This is a difficult problem: For example, people who enter a cool room in summer can at first feel relaxed, but after a while feel too cold.
The present industry guidelines for heating and cooling, which prescribe a range of 68.5 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit in winter and 75 to 80.5 degrees in summer, regard human variables as static over time.
Consequently, considering how much energy heating and refrigeration devices are used, people sometimes feel too hot or too cold.
More people would be happier — enhancing their health and efficiency — of furnaces and air conditioners could respond in real-time to the feelings of the building inhabitants, including the way they change every day.
Our research group worked on how human input on room temperatures can be used in heating and cooling systems. What we develop could help people to feel more relaxed and allow buildings to use less energy. Some researchers suggested that office employees should essentially vote on the temperature.
Builders use a telephone app or website to say whether they’re too hot or too cold, and what will make them more convenient. An algorithm then analyzes the group response and determines the temperature that most people estimate is most suitable.
However, there are two major limitations to this method: In order to work best, it needs near-constant feedback from people who are meant to work — and does not yet affect whether anyone who is uncomfortable can support himself with the sweater.
They often take no account of the temperature of people’s bodies, which is closely connected to how cold or warm they want to be in their atmosphere.
This is the most effective approach in multi-occupancy areas such as open-plan offices, conference rooms, and theaters. It can accommodate and account for temperature differences between persons in various areas of the room, whether they stand or sit, or move. And it can adapt on the fly without active feedback from humans.
This and other non-intrusive approaches will continue to be explored by our community to help people feel better—and be happier and more efficient. You may think the solution is to bring the air conditioning unit down to 16 degrees to blast the cooler air.
This can make the system much harder than necessary and lead to increased energy use and expensive bills.
Again, we will base it on a standard office setting, where the middle-range air conditioning system is not over-populated.
It can seem counterintuitive, but we will say the same thing.
Related: The 8 Most Overrated and Underrated Jobs in 2024
