By Nicola Young, Director, Whitespace Consultants
If an office is too hot or too cold this can affect the performance of the people working in it. But what’s the solution? With most air conditioning systems being able to do both cooling and heating, installing a system into your workspace could be the answer. The right solution can create a comfortable atmosphere for your employees all year round.
In the workplace air conditioning is no longer considered a luxury, in fact many employees expect the offices they work in to be air conditioned.
But why do we need air conditioning in our workplaces? It’s not as though we have excessively warm summers in the UK, (we may get the odd week!) and the winters have been much colder in recent years, so why not just have a good heating system I hear you say? Well to begin with most offices today are packed with electrical equipment, computers, printers, photocopiers etc … add to that the employees … so it’s not just what the weather is doing outside that we have to take into consideration, it’s also what’s happening inside the workplace. Likewise employees should not be expected to work in cold conditions; flexibility, agility and judgement may be impaired in cold conditions and could result in accidents.
I think you’ll agree excessive temperatures, whether it is too hot or cold will cause staff to complain and become unproductive. Recent studies by NASA in conjunction with the University of Montana proved that in a comfortable environment, not only are we all more productive, but we make fewer mistakes and are less likely to be rushing off to get out of the building. Installing a good heating and air conditioning system can not only put a stop to the complaints it can increase concentration and productivity, providing a comfortable working environment for all. The overall goal of a climate control system is to provide a ‘comfort zone’ within which temperature, humidity and indoor air quality are optimized.
Where a reasonably comfortable temperature cannot be achieved naturally throughout a workplace, sufficient heating or cooling should be provided and what better way to provide this but to install one system that offers both. So consider appropriate action as part of your office refurbishment programmes and keep your staff happy and productive!