Perpetual Winter

How cold is your office? How warm? Chances are, its either too much of one or the other, depending on the time of the year. For instance, large, box-shaped office spaces are so inefficient and divorced from ambient conditions that the heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system typically must run to cool the center of the building even during the coldest winter day. Compare to office buildings of the pre-war (WW II, that is) era, in which work areas are never far from an operable window and natural light (and which still function comfortably today).

Everybody seems to realize that the comfort of their office environment sucks. For instance, in the South, many office environments seem to be calibrated so that men can maintain the ridiculous tradition of wearing suits in July, while more sensibly dressed women shiver. Here are some highlights from a recently publicized survey conducted by Johnson Controls, who presumably would like to make some dough fixing our work-a-day fix, that reveals that the workers know what’s up:

According to a new survey of office workers, 69% said they would be willing to sacrifice their preferred ideal temperature in the office to help their company conserve energy.

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Almost all participants said their office has been too hot or too cold at some point (98 %) and when that occurs, most (78 %) said they are less productive. Not only does workplace productivity suffer, individual actions – such as bringing a heating or cooling device into the office – result in increased energy use.

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American workers expect their employers to take action. The results indicate that 45% think their employer is not doing enough to make their office environments energy efficient.

In other words, we are willing to suffer for a cause, but not for incompetence. And likely, we wouldn’t have to suffer at all, because our offices are already too hot or too cold at the wrong time. Simply achieving a comfortable office environment would save energy and boost productivity. Translation for managers: $$$. Here’s hoping your boss reads this stuff. (Translation for readers: they won’t).