Comfort and Productivity, and the Potential to Save Energy



Brrrr!

How Hot (or cold) Are You?

Are you operating at your peak efficiency on the job? If not, could the temperature of your workplace be to blame?

My coworkers and I would answer those questions a resounding "no" and "yes."

Our office is (at least it was until just this week) unbearably cold. One morning I arrived and the thermometer (which I keep on my desk to document such occasions by taking a picture with my cell phone) read 56?F. Throughout the fall, winter, and spring, the HVAC system routinely blows cold air. Virtually everyone takes off a their winter coat and puts on a heavy sweater or fleece jacket (think Mr. Rogers); many of us sport scarves and wraps as well. It's quite common to see us typing while wearing gloves that have the fingertips cut out. To make a point, during a particularly cold week in October, I bought a bright pink Snuggie and wore that around the office for a few days (despite it being a tripping hazard and my being compared to the Energizer Bunny).

So when we saw media coverage reporting that office temperature affects worker productivity, the only thing we could think of to say was "DUH!"

The Survey Says...

According to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com:

  • Almost half of all workers describe the temperature at their workplace as too hot (27%) or too cold (19%); only 54% say the temperature is just right.
  • Almost a quarter (22%) say that a too-hot work environment makes it difficult to concentrate, while 11% say the same about a too-cold workplace.
  • Ten percent report that they have fought with a coworker over the office temperature.

Another Harris survey, commissioned by Johnson Controls, found that:

  • Almost all participants (98%) say their office has been too hot or too cold at some point.
  • Three-quarters (78%) say they are less productive when they are too hot or too cold.
  • Half (49%) have used a fan when it was too hot in their office, and 28% used a space heater when it was too cold.
  • Nearly one-third (30%) have left their office building to take a walk outside when it was too hot or too cold in their workspace.
  • Two-thirds (69%) have adjusted their clothing, such as adding a sweater if was too cold or removing a layer if it was too hot.

Improving Productivity

Johnson Controls issued a very interesting white paper on the relationship between environmental comfort, individual control, and employee productivity. (Although it contains more than 50 superscripted numbers that appear to be references, there are no footnotes or endnotes for any citations in the paper. So I was not able to check what I report here against the original sources -- I'm trusting the Johnson Controls reputation.) The paper reports that dissatisfaction with office air quality and comfort is widespread -- as high as 60% according to some studies -- and explores the financial implications of reduced productivity resulting from such dissatisfaction.

While the most obvious measures of performance are usually expressed in terms of production speed, accuracy, or both, increased productivity also occurs when people:

o perform tasks more accurately
o perform faster without loss of accuracy
o can perform for longer time periods without tiring
o can learn more effectively
o are more creative
o can sustain stress more effectively
o can work together more harmoniously
o are better able to cope with unforeseen circumstances
o feel healthier, and therefore spend more time at work
o are drawn toward accepting more responsibility
o respond more positively to requests

What manager would not want his or her employees to achieve these things?

Managers may look to the human resources factors and overlook the facility factors when considering ways to positively influence worker productivity. Some companies try various new and improved management techniques, when their productivity problems are rooted in poorly designed and maintained office space.

Power to the People

Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder, notes that many factors can affect work place productivity. "Everything from morale, burnout, and temperature can have an impact on workers' ability to get their work done. If temperature is a concern, workers and employers can easily work together to find common ground so productivity does not suffer."

Haefner offers the following tips to deal with productivity-hampering temperature issues:

  • Thermostat talk: Does one of your coworkers like the office steaming while you prefer a chillier work space? Instead of secretly changing the thermostat behind each other's backs, send around an e-mail to your floor or directly discuss a compromise on temperature with your colleagues.
  • Layer it on (or off): The best way to prepare for a fluctuating office climate is to layer your clothing. That way, you can remove or add items so that you are comfortable and able to do your best work.
  • Make it work: If you know that a particular time of day or space in the office is too warm or too cold for you to work productively, be proactive by finding an alternative. Talk to your manager about coming in earlier, moving to a conference room for a portion of the day, or telecommuting.

Johnson Controls offers a technology-based solution. (I have no connection to the company, and this is not intended to be an endorsement of its product.) The brochure for its Personal Environments says that employers can

"improve the environment one workspace at a time by turning control of lighting, ventilation, acoustics and temperature over to the experts -- the individuals who occupy the workspaces."

A control unit at each workstation allows the occupant to adjust air flow, task lighting and background noise levels. The system turns on automatically when an occupancy sensor detects movement, and shuts off when the office is unoccupied for about 10 to 15 minutes. This feature, and the fact that only occupied offices are conditioned so the load on the central air-conditioning system is lower, reduces energy usage and saves money.

The Johnson Controls survey also found that more than two-thirds (69%) of the respondents would be willing to sacrifice their preferred ideal temperature in the office to help their company conserve energy. Yet almost half (45%) think their employer is not doing enough to make their office environments energy-efficient.

image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/redcarpet/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Comments

Leaelaf Hailemariam's picture

Interesting article. It appears that excessive heat might be a bigger problem than insufficient heat.

jvasko's picture

Leaelaf, In New York, in my experience, it's always seemed that excessive cold has been the problem in the summer and sometimes excessive heat in the winter. But mostly it's the cold that's been the problem for me. I've had to bring in a space heater to my offices during the summers and go out to thaw out for 15 minutes every day around 2pm. It seems like such a waste. But no matter how much I've spoken about it to building supervisors or facility administrators, it never seems to make a difference. What is your office or work environment temperature like?