Office Temperature, is it causing a war between your employees?

Creating a comfortable office setting allows for greater productivity for employees, resulting in greater revenue for the business. Often times opinions differ on a comfortable office temperature. Studies have shown there is no significant difference between skin temperatures of men and women, however; in a study performed by the USC Marshall School of Business and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center women are more productive in a higher-temperature room than men.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) doesn’t mandate employers to maintain specific temperatures in the workplace, but it recommends that employers keep the thermostat between 68 and 76 F. The article “How to Resolve the Office Temperature Debate” published June 24, 2020, on businessnewsdaily.com reports: The ideal temperature for the “typical” office is around 71.6 F, according to the Helsinki University of Technology’s Laboratory for Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning.[1] “We recommend for summer room temperature is around 23 degrees Celsius to 26 degrees Celsius” (the equivalent of 73.4-78.8 degrees Fahrenheit) states Bjorne Olsen, a past president of ASHRAE—an international professional association that develops standards for indoor climate control. “At least 80% of men and women are satisfied in that range.”[2] The researchers conclude that setting the temperature to the recommended range could improve the health of the employee as well as provide energy savings for the company.

Automatic Temperature Control settings will come down to creating a company policy—relieving owners and managers of maintaining temperature settings and struggling with productivity issues.

Calvert Mechanical is an ethical, safe, and family-oriented company, that offers our employees the opportunity to work amongst experienced and talented professionals who believe in the value of hard work to provide an exceptional product as a team. We listen to our clients’ needs and carefully provide specifically tailored solutions 24-7 to get the job done right, before you need it. For more information about how Calvert Mechanical may assist you with setting up your energy management systems and automatic temperature controls, visit our website at calvertinc.com or call 410.323.5400.

[1] How to Resolve The office Temperature Debate; Kuligowski, Kiely; June 24, 2020 https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10964-office-temperature-debate.html

[2] Are Women Colder Than Men? The Science Behind Office Temperature Wars;  McGinty, Jo Craven; Dow Jones & Company., Inc; July 10, 2020 https://www.wjs.com/articles/are-women-colder-than-men-the-science-behind-of ice-temperature-wars-11

This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2020 at 9:33 pm. Both comments and pings are currently closed.