Office staff hot under the collar
This formula considers of a range of factors when determining the optimum temperature, including air temperature, air speed, vapour pressure and clothing insulation.
The problem lies in another factor that the formula takes into account – the resting metabolic rate. The resting metabolic rate is essentially how quickly we generate heat, and this varies between men and women.
In the formula, this variable is based on the average resting metabolic rate of a 40-year-old-man, who weighs about 70 kilograms. At rest, men tend to expend more energy than women, and are therefore generally warmer.
This formula was devised in the 1960s, when men dominated office jobs. That is no longer the case, and a rework of the formula is needed.
The scientists who published the recent study concluded that buildings need ‘‘to reduce genderdiscriminating bias in thermal comfort’’.
Interestingly, the study also found that setting temperatures at slightly warmer levels would help fight global warming, because less energy is being used to constantly reduce office temperatures.
The thermostat debate also goes beyond just comfort levels in the office, and can have a significant impact on productivity.
In another study, the University of Southern California monitored more than 500 students who undertook a number of different tests – a maths test, a verbal test and a cognitive reflection test – where the room was set at various temperatures from 16 to 32 degrees Celsius.
Perhaps not surprisingly to women around the world who are constantly piling on the layers of clothing in the office, women performed better on the maths and verbal tests in higher temperatures. Men performed better when in the colder environment.
The difference in productivity, depending on temperature, was significantly greater for women than for men. In warmer temperatures, women’s performance was considerably higher than the corresponding decrease in male performance at the same temperature.
This difference, the researchers concluded, means that workplaces may be able to increase productivity by raising the thermostat a few notches.
In New Zealand, Worksafe recommends air conditioning units be set to between 19C and 24C in the summer and 18C and 22C in the winter. There are also regulations that are relevant to this issue.
The Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations require that a person who is in control of a place of work must provide reasonable ventilation.
They also require that workers operating in extremes of heat and cold can do so without risk to health and safety.
These regulations have been criticised for being too non-specific and difficult to enforce.
The previous Health and Safety in Employment Act specified the facilities must be suitable with regards to factors such as humidity, temperature and ventilation which at least made temperature regulation a specific issue.
Ultimately, disputes about office temperature are likely to continue because it is almost impossible to please everyone.
However, there does appear to be a compelling case to raise the temperature by a couple of degrees, as this has now been proven to increase productivity. It may help fight climate change as well.