Ensuring that the working environment of your businesses is comfortable can provide a major boost in productivity. However, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, especially when it’s in the form of copious AC unleashed unto your workforce. With temperatures rising, it’s important to keep cool, yet the fine line between ideal and chilly temperatures can impact your bottom line, and the comfort of your employees greatly. At Owens Companies, we aim to assist you in creating comfortable, efficient workplace temperatures that won’t leave your teams out in the cold.
The Research
Cooler temperatures can really impact work performance for reasons you wouldn’t expect. Researchers found that the model for office temperatures, developed in the 1960s, centered on the basal metabolic needs of men, and ignored the needs of women. As men primarily dominated the workforce at the time, offices were set to approximately 70 degrees to meet their metabolic needs. However, these temperatures proved excessive to those with lower metabolic resting rates, and therefor impacted the cogitative performance of many.
In fact, A Cornell University study found that office environments were impacted by increased work errors when temperatures plummeted to 68 degrees, while cognitive performance increased (and input errors decreased) for all workers at around 75 degrees.
While bodies vary, and ideal temperatures do too, aiming to keep spaces cooled to the recommended 73-75 degrees provides the best modern working temperatures for everyone, providing the model temperatures for increased productivity and performance.
Beyond workplace productivity, your customer base may be impacted as well.
A 2018 Emerson Survey found that inadequate and uncomfortable temperatures impacted a staggering 80% of respondents, who reported issues with temperature mismanagement, including increased allergy production. Further, those surveyed claimed they had been negatively impacted by HVAC while in public, and 57% of respondents reported leaving retail establishments without making a purchase due to cooling and heating concerns.
When retailers and general businesses understand the impact excessive cooling has on their revenue sources and productivity, they can make the small adjustments needed to ensure their customers and employees remain comfortable and reap the countless rewards associated with ideal temperatures.
At Owens Companies we like to say “We treat every building as if it were our own”, and providing our customers with the best research is part of that promise. If you’d like to speak with us about your cooling needs, we’re here to help.