Why is my office so cold? Elements that contribute to well-being in workspaces
If for work reasons you have to spend most of your day inside an office, you are probably familiar with going through certain days with too much cold or too much heat. While some of your colleagues complain that the office is a real sauna, others claim that it is impossible to survive the winter without a good blanket and a heater. In most cases, debates about the ideal temperature never end in agreement, and there are even some who never manage to agree on the average temperature at which the air conditioning should be so that everyone feels comfortable. . The truth is that the feeling of comfort varies a lot from one person to another and this is a problem in shared spaces. The same goes for lighting Have you ever been in a meeting room with too much light, or with too dim lighting that made you uncomfortable?
When thinking about the interior design of workplaces, the obvious elements come to mind: organization, furniture, finishes, colors, and any other aspect of the space that contributes to the overall experience. However relevant these physical details may be when designing workspaces, the conditions that really make an office the ideal place for its employees often end up being underestimated or neglected.
In 2015, a survey revealed that 42% of workers in the United States think their workplace is too hot, while 56% of respondents say it usually gets cold in their work environments. Although technological advances allow us to control the temperature of a space more and more precisely and modify it with the push of a button, the problem with shared spaces is that it is more difficult to determine what that ideal temperature should be. In general, this great contrast of opinion is due to the fact that the calculation to determine the conditions of thermal comfort of people is linked to fairly outdated mathematical models, as defined by the ASHRAE 55 standard, one of the building codes most used in the United States, and also one of the oldest. As architects learn to calculate in college, the model for assessing the thermal comfort condition of a human being in a work environment is based on data relating to how a man in a suit and tie feels in his conditioned office. mechanically. The problem, in my opinion quite obvious, is that not all workers are men, let alone all wear a suit and tie every day. If we take into account how many of the employees of a given company dress in this way, and how many of them are not men, obviously this calculation model turns out to be flawed and inconsistent.
Almost as important as feeling comfortable from a temperature standpoint, artificial lighting conditions also play an important role in the feeling of well-being at work. In a recently published study, the American Society of Interior Design revealed that more than 65% of workers are dissatisfied with the lighting conditions of their workspaces. It’s a worrying enough statistic, especially because lighting has a significant impact on our productivity and not only that, but also on our physical and mental health. While the lights emitted by our computer screens are often very strong and exhausting to our eyes, some other light sources can directly affect our body’s circadian rhythm, affecting sleep or stimulating our metabolism. Some designers prefer “warmer” or “colder” shades of light. The fact is that the lighting conditions of our living spaces have a decisive influence on the way we feel and, consequently, on the way we relate.
So what awaits us in the future? Will we ever stop arguing about the temperature in the office, or when we should turn on the lights and close the curtains? The answer to this question would seem to be yes. As more researchers study the ways in which design influences people’s well-being, happiness, and productivity in work environments, it seems that we are finally moving closer to this long-awaited consensus. Technological advances also allow us to create more flexible environments in terms of temperature, allowing individuals to more easily adjust to the specific characteristics of each workplace. Also, lighting design has gone from being an eccentric exaggeration to a fundamental need, and more and more professionals decide to dedicate themselves to this line of research and design, collaborating in the establishment of new standards of comfort and the creation of more welcoming and stimulating spaces. Apparently, it’s just a matter of time.
This article is part of the Theme of the Month in ArchDaily: Wellness in Indoor Spaces. Each month we explored a topic in depth through articles, interviews, news, and works. Learn more about our topics. And as always, at ArchDaily we value the contributions of our readers. If you want to apply for an article or a work, contact us.